


Dorm 808 - Marauder's Era AU

by weasum



Series: Dorm 808 - Marauder [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Original Character(s), Slow Burn, Veela, Werewolf, animagi, charlotte is kind of a dumbass, dont worry its not in her point of view forever, metamorphagus, we dont mention peter as much because he sucks but he is still in the story, we wrote this originally in 6th grade and we're rewriting it (hopefully) better now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:55:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 32,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26740981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weasum/pseuds/weasum
Summary: Charlotte Verntill is in her first year at Hogwarts. Everyday is a new adventure, especially with her new friends: Remmy, Taylor, and Delilah. Not to mention, they’re in the care of four fourth year Gryffindors that call themselves the ‘Marauders’. Charlotte thought this was going to be great first year and new beginning, until her cat starts mysteriously disappearing for weeks at a time, her parents are put in danger, and the entire country has become obsessed with a mysterious drug. Not what she was expecting, but an interesting start to her career as a witch...
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, OC/OC, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: Dorm 808 - Marauder [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946437
Kudos: 3





	1. It's Raining Cats and Dogwood

**Author's Note:**

> so we originally made this story in middle school and happened upon it in our google drives and thought it was the cringiest bullshit we've ever seen, so reasonably we're rewriting it. the original was really bad, had a lot of... problematic stuff and we, as gay people, somehow wrote a gay relationship for straight people. not anymore. before everything, yes we are aware we're highschoolers posting a harry potter fanfiction. i (sydney) have already told my therapist. we're so sorry in advance. enjoy! 
> 
> -sydney and natalie

Chapter One -- It's Raining Cats and Dogwood  
It was a cloudy, rainy day in London, England. It was late August, and school was just around the corner. Charlotte Lola Verntill was especially excited about this. She had turned eleven years old months ago, which meant she was finally old enough to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She hadn’t a care in the world that her clothes were getting wet as she skipped through puddles towards the Leaky Cauldron. Her mom and dad had needed to get things from other stores in London, so they let Charlotte go off to buy school supplies on her own in Diagon Alley.  
“Well if it isn’t Ms. Verntill!” said the bartender to Charlotte. “Would you like a hot chocolate again today? On the house!”  
“That would be great, Mr. Barley!” Charlotte replied with a smile. “Could you put it in a paper cup? I’ve got to go supply shopping today.”  
“Ah, it’s that time of year already, eh?” Mr. Barley said. “It’s hard to believe you’re already eleven years old. Seems only yesterday that yer’ mum and dad brought you in as a wee little kid.”  
Charlotte flushed with embarrassment. She had known Mr. Barley her entire life because he had helped her parents with financial problems. Nearly all the staff in the Leaky Cauldron knew her since her parents worked in London and she often came by to eat and hang out while her parents worked.  
“Alright young lady, one hot-chocolate to go, on the house,” Mr. Barley said happily, handing Charlotte the cup. “I added some cream and marshmallows, just the way you like it. Oh, and some peppermint, too! It’s a new recipe, so you’ll have to tell me if you like it.”  
“Thank you so much, Mr. Barley!” Charlotte skipped to the back of the store and pressed the brick as she had done so many times before when her parents would come here.  
Immediately, she was overwhelmed with the bustling of people and the smell of fresh baked goods. People packed the streets, even early in the morning on a Sunday. Charlotte’s brown hair was tied up into a ponytail that swished from side-to-side as she weaved through crowds. Her cardigan was soaking wet from the rain, but she kept it on regardless. Her mary-janes clicked on the sidewalks as she ran along the store-fronts, searching for what she needed.  
Charlotte glanced down at the list she pulled from her pocket. “Wands, wands… Where- oh!” She came to a stop and looked up at the sign that read ‘Ollivander’s Wand Shoppe’. Ollivander’s was the most famous wand store in England, probably even in all of Europe. Strangely, though, it looked nearly empty.  
Charlotte walked inside the store, seeing another girl talking to the man at the desk. She was tall, with curly ginger hair and a sweater. She held a black umbrella at her side, even though it had stopped raining a few moments ago.  
“...Take a look at this one...yes yes, this one should do...Give it a wave, young lady.” Ollivander, a skinny old man, pulled one wand out of a box from the several on the table.  
The girl held the wand, and barely had the chance to wave it when the tip glowed a bright blue, and a breeze flowed across the room, making Charlotte shiver.  
“Interesting, interesting,” Olivander said. “This wand is a thirty-three-centimeter dogwood wand with a dragon heartstring core. A very interesting combination, you don’t see a lot of dogwood wands these days. You have great potential, young lady!”  
The girl seemed to roll her eyes when she heard ‘dogwood’. Charlotte looked curiously as the girl paid for the wand and began to walk out.  
“Excuse me?” Charlotte called.  
The girl jumped slightly, only just noticing Charlotte was there. “Sorry...Um, what was it?”  
“I just wanted to ask, um…” Charlotte asked. “Are you going into first year also?”  
“Oh, yeah, I am. I’m Remmy Sedriel. You?”  
Charlotte nearly had to look up to see the girl’s face. “Charlotte Verntill. It’s nice to meet you, Sedriel!”  
“Nice to meet you too. See you at Hogwarts, maybe.”  
Remmy walked out of the shop, leaving Charlotte with Ollivander.  
“Come in, young lady,” Ollivander said with a smile. “I already got a few picked out for you that might work…”  
“Really?” Charlotte asked. “You work fast. How do you do it?”  
“Personality is a really important factor in choosing a wand...wands will choose the wizard or witch who is most compatible with their personality. Wands do have their own specific personalities, stories, everything...They remember everything. I chose these wands based on characteristics that I think would fit you best, and balance your relationship with your wand.”  
“You can tell that much about a person just by watching a short conversation? That’s very interesting!”  
“Well, I do hate to burst your bubble…” Ollivander tapped his forehead. “But I am a legilimens. While I do prefer to respect others’ privacy...it does make the process way shorter.”  
Charlotte tilted her head. A mind reader...how strange. She supposed it did make the process faster…  
“Try this one first,” Ollivander said, handing Charlotte a wand. She gave it a wave, knocking over several other boxes of wands. “Not to worry, not to worry…” Ollivander said. “Let’s try a different wood...maybe birch? Or possibly oak? Hmmm…”  
After trying several different other wands, Charlotte grew tired. Magic did take energy, especially for an untrained witch.  
“I see...Maybe we can try...this.” Ollivander handed Charlotte one last wand.  
Charlotte took a deep breath, waving the tip in a small spiral. The air grew warm, almost like a fire on a winter’s night. The lights in the room turned on, allowing the room to be illuminated even on a cloudy day.  
“Wonderful! It’s a match!” Ollivander clapped his hands twice in glee. “This is a twenty-five centimeter Ebony wand with a unicorn hair core. Very powerful and consistent. You don’t see many ebony wands, and when you do...well, you may typically see them in...Dark Magic. Your Unicorn hair core makes up for this with its loyalty however, so it’s a very balanced combination.”  
Charlotte was barely listening. She was just excited to finally have a wand. A real wand! She quickly handed over the pay and rushed out of the store, celebrating her first step in becoming a fully-fledged witch.  
She spent the rest of her visit getting more boring things--books, uniforms, potions supplies, quills...Until finally, she stumbled upon a pet shop.  
“Come in, come in, all owls are on sale for the start of the school year! The fastest owls in Europe!”  
“Look, mummy, the toad is staring at me!”  
“That cat is so fluffy!”  
Charlotte smiled and looked around. She walked towards a cat that wasn’t in a cage but instead was sitting on a shelf. It was a Siamese cat, fairly young and nimble. It already had a collar on it.  
“Excuse me,” She called to one of the employees, “is this cat for sale?”  
“Oh, that thing?” The employee said. “Yes, take it for all we care. To be honest with you, it was one of the employee’s cats, but...He was sent off into the war. Won’t be coming back.” Charlotte frowned. She knew all too well. She had met a few people who had parents forced to help with the Wizarding War. Charlotte looked at the cat’s collar: Salem. What a classic witch name, she thought.  
“I’ll take her,” She said.  
“Wonderful. Cat’s free, but you’ll need some supplies. I recommend this food…”  
As the employee showed Charlotte some things that she would need to take care of the new cat, Salem jumped from her shelf and followed Charlotte around the store. Charlotte left Diagon Alley content with what she had gotten that day. Her trolley was full of supplies, and Salem sat on top, occasionally pawing at the bags. She strolled back into the Leaky Cauldron. Mr. Barley seemed to have finished his shift, as there was a different bartender.  
“Ah, Lottie,” called someone. It was Charlotte’s dad. “You’re back! I see you got everything you needed? Any trouble?”  
“Quite the contrary, actually,” Charlotte said with a smile. “This darling cat was completely free. Only bought the supplies.”  
“Well, I suppose it’s destiny,” Her mom laughed. “I’m glad you’re happy, dear. I’ve already arranged for us to go through the Floo Network back to the house, so you’ll have to make sure all of your stuff is secured…”  
“Oh, darling,” Dad said, “I can apparate home with everything. Lottie can take her wand and her new furry friend here, and I’ll meet you all back home.”  
“We’ll see you there, darling... I’ll be buying Lottie something to eat before we leave.”  
Dad kissed mom on the cheek before going to the back room with the rest of Charlotte’s stuff, apparating away. Salem curled around Charlotte’s legs, and her wand held up a quick top-knot she made on her head. This made mom laugh.  
“I see you’ve already gotten into my habits,” She laughed. Mom pointed to her head, which also had a top-knot held by her wand.  
“It’s a very stylish look,” Charlotte winked.  
“Let’s get you some supper and we’ll be off, ‘right?”  
The two ate a good meal, talking and laughing through the night. Charlotte found it hard to believe that soon she won’t be staying in her parent’s care all year. She might even learn something cool. As she was thinking, she saw a girl briskly walk past who was followed by a tall woman. The girl had blonde hair and was slouched over, wearing a uniform from somewhere she’d never seen. The woman was following closely, occasionally whispering to the girl, leading her to Diagon Alley. Charlotte found it strange that they were only just now shopping, as some stores would be closing soon...But she supposed not everyone’s life was as simple as Charlotte’s. The girl disappeared through the brick entry-way, and Charlotte looked back at Salem. They made eye-contact as if they could understand each other. If only they could.


	2. Expressing Developments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlotte meets Remmy again, and the Marauders. They hop on the train to Hogwarts, where the Marauders seem to be keeping a secret from the younger girls. Soon after arriving at Hogwarts, they meet Delilah, Taylor, and Katie. After they get sorted, they settle into their dorm and fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the dogwood thing will make sense later on, sorry if this chapter is a little short - we're in hybrid school and different states unfortunately. we'll try to be consistent with updates! thank you again for reading <3
> 
> -sydney and natalie

A few days later was August 31st: The day that the Hogwarts Express left the platform. Charlotte was bursting with excitement, waking up earlier than usual just to pack her bags. Her mother had made her a very nice breakfast of waffles, bacon, hash browns, and pumpkin juice.  
“Wow mum,” Charlotte said with a yawn. “You went all out today, huh?”  
“Of course I did,” Mum replied, placing a plate down in front of her. “Today’s a special day. I still remember the day I went to Hogwarts for the first time…”  
Charlotte rolled her eyes. Mum sure did like to reminisce. “Is dad coming?” She asked, her mouth full of waffles.  
“Chew with your mouth closed, darling. And no, sadly. He has work in the afternoon. You can say your goodbyes before he leaves.”  
“Oh...Okay.” Charlotte frowned, but it wasn’t uncommon for one of her parents to be missing from some important event because of work.   
Salem had made herself at home already, but it seemed she would disappear occasionally and be found in strange places, like the sewer drain, or the abandoned house at the end of the street. Charlotte hoped Salem wouldn’t get lost at Hogwarts, since it was such a big place. The cat was now licking her paw while on top of the fireplace.  
Dad came downstairs wearing his work attire, sitting down across from Charlotte. “Good morning, Lottie,” He smiled. “A very exciting day!”  
Charlotte smiled. She was beside herself with excitement. “I wish you could come with us.”  
“I know…” Dad replied. “You know how important this is, though.”  
“What do you mean?” Charlotte tilted her head.  
“Bringing the news to everyone in the Wizarding World is an important task, Missy,” He said, pointing his fork towards Charlotte. He worked at the Daily Prophet as an editor, a job that he had held for a long time. “Especially now. The war shows no sign of stopping anytime soon, and the people want closure.”  
“He’s right, darling,” Mum chimed in. “I’m lucky I got even a day off during these times. St. Mungos has been packed lately…especially from recent events.” Mum was a nurse practitioner at St. Mungos, which was a hard job but supported their family.  
“Recent events?” Charlotte asked. “What do you mean? Have there been more attacks?”  
“Not exactly,” Dad said. “It’s a sensitive subject, Charlotte.” Charlotte straightened up from hearing her full first-name. “I’m not entirely sure you would understand if we told you.”  
“What do you mean by that? I’m not stupid, I can understand. If it’s an attack, a killing, whatever, I can understand!”  
“It’s more complicated than that, Charlotte,” Mum said, shaking her head. “We know you aren’t stupid, but we just--”  
“What do you mean ‘you just?’” Charlotte stood up. “You don’t need to try and protect me all the time! Just tell me the truth!”  
“Charlotte Lola Verntill!” Dad snapped. “Do not yell at your mother. Sit down and eat your breakfast.”  
Charlotte sat down, defeated. Salem looked up at her, her tail curled around her body. Charlotte shook her head and stayed silent.  
~~~~~~~~~  
Afternoon had come. Charlotte had said her goodbyes to her father, but she still wanted closure from their argument earlier.   
Charlotte and her mother were at Kings Cross Station, pushing along the trolley with Salem on top in her cage. Salem was not pleased about this arrangement, as she was mewling throughout the entire time she was inside.  
“Alright, darling, let me show you how to get to the platform. I won’t always be here to show you, so you’ll have to listen carefully, right?” Mum said. Charlotte nodded.  
“Alright...You see all those other kids with the trolleys? Those are also students. They’re going towards platforms 9 and 10. To get to platform 9 ¾, you need to run straight through the wall in between the two. It’s just a glamour, so you won’t hurt yourself, I promise.”  
Charlotte took a deep breath, looking at the wall. She took a running start towards the wall, closing her eyes.  
When she opened them, she was on a bustling train platform with several other students and their trolleys. Charlotte smiled and quickly got out of the way of the bricks. Her mother jogged through a moment after.  
“The train leaves in ten minutes. I’d suggest that you’d get going now…” Mum sighed. She grabbed Charlotte by the shoulders. “Charlotte Lola. I love you so much. I couldn’t be more proud of you right now. You better write to us every chance you get, you hear me?”  
Charlotte smiled and nodded. Salem seemed to do the same out of the corner of Charlotte’s eye.  
“Alright. You get going now, darling.” Mum squeezed Charlotte tight and wiped a tear from her eye before turning around and leaving the platform.  
Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief. She looked at Salem, who was still angry about being in a cage. She grabbed her trolley and wheeled it towards the luggage car where it was taken by a worker and packed into the luggage car.  
She stepped onto the train, breathing in and trying not to show her excitement. She felt something pass by her leg and looked down to see Salem.  
“Salem, how did you get out?!” She said. Salem didn’t respond. “Well, whatever, I’ll just carry you with me.” She picked up the cat, carrying her like a baby.  
Charlotte walked past the compartments, seeing that only a few were empty. She ended up choosing one near the middle of the train, sitting next to the window. She closed the door to the cabin and let go of Salem so she could walk around.  
A few minutes passed without Charlotte even realizing until she heard the door to her cabin open.  
“Oh, shit, sorry,” A boy said. He had shaggy black hair and wore circular glasses. “Uhh...Mind if we sit down? The rest of the train’s packed.”  
“O--oh! Of course,” Charlotte replied. Salem jumped onto her lap, her tail sticking up when a boy with scars sat down in front of them and a boy with long black hair sat next to him.  
“Sorry,” the last boy said as he walked in. He was pudgy and short, carrying a muggle book: Stuart Little.  
“Suppose we should ask your name?” The long-haired boy asked. “I’m Sirius Black.”  
“James Potter,” said the boy who opened the door.  
“Remus Lupin,” said the boy with scars.  
“Peter…Pettigrew…” said the last boy.  
“We’re all Gryffindors, fourth year. You?” asked James.  
“I’m Charlotte Verntill. First-year.”  
“First-year? I swear, kids get taller every single year…” Sirius muttered. “Peter...How’re you feeling about the cat?”  
The two other boys snickered at Sirius’s comment. Peter scowled at Sirius but went back to snickering with them. Charlotte raised an eyebrow but didn’t ask questions.  
Charlotte looked out the window as the boys talked. She watched the scenery change from the station to wilderness.  
Another knock came at the door, and in came another girl.  
“Hey!” Charlotte said. “You were at Ollivander’s!”  
“Oh, yeah...hey. Verntill, was it?” she replied.  
“Yep! And you’re Sedriel.”  
Remmy looked at the boys in there. “Sorry, umm… If this area’s full I’ll go somewhere else.”  
“No, it’s fine,” James shrugged, eating a tart he got from the trolley. “What’s your name?”  
As the others introduced themselves to each other, Charlotte couldn’t help but see the resemblance between Remmy and Remus.  
“Hey, you both look awfully alike, huh?” Charlotte said, tilting her head. “I think it’s the scars. Maybe the nose too.”  
Remus looked at Remmy and shrugged. “I don’t see it, she’s ginger and a lot less pale than I am, plus she hasn’t got scars, she’s got a couple scratches on her nose and hands. Probably has a cat or something.”  
Remmy went over to sit down across from Charlotte with a nod.”Yeah. Cat.”  
The six talked amongst themselves for most of the ride. Most of it was all good fun, occasionally the boys would crack jokes at one another. The noise had mostly died down until James spoke up.  
“Hey... Did you three read the Prophet this morning?”  
“Oh...Yeah, I did,” Remus said, his voice going to a softer volume. “Can we talk about it later? I don’t want to..You know..” He nodded towards Charlotte and Remmy.  
“You’re right,” James said with a sigh. “It’s just...been on my mind.”  
“Does it have something to do with the war?” Charlotte asked. “My parents mentioned that things are getting more complicated, but they won’t tell me how or why!”  
Sirius sighed. “I... Even we shouldn’t really be talking about it. It’s hard to explain, it’s a problem the Ministry should probably handle.”  
“Sirius…” Remus whispered. “I know...your family, you know. Are you doing alright?”  
Sirius didn’t respond.  
James cleared his throat. “Sorry, I...shouldn’t have brought it up. How about that Quidditch game? Did you guys see the results?”  
James and Sirius started talking about Quidditch, while Remus and Peter were focused on their own books. Remmy was staring out the window mindlessly.  
Charlotte looked at Salem. She pet her back, scratching behind her ears. Salem looked directly into Charlotte’s eyes, her pupils expanding. Salem seemed like she was trying to tell Charlotte something, but she definitely wouldn’t understand.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
The train came to a stop. Charlotte had woken up, even though she didn’t remember falling asleep. The boys already got up, beginning to walk out of the cabin.  
“You kids don’t follow us,” James said. “The first years go the scenic route to the castle.”  
The six exited the train, and the four boys got onto a carriage that didn’t seem to be pulled by anything. Remmy bit her lip seeing the carriages and turned around, following the other first years towards a group of boats.  
“Firs’ years, o’er here, firs’ years!” Called a large, bearded man. He saw Charlotte and Remmy and smiled at them. “Hello, young lassies! Just climb righ’ into that boat here and we’ll be off.”  
Remmy climbed into the boat and held out her hand for Charlotte to climb in, which she gratefully accepted.  
In the boat with them was three other first years: A short girl with purple hair, a short girl with long black hair, and the girl she saw at the Leaky Cauldron. They were facing each other now, and she could see the emblem on her uniform: Rosemarie’s Orphanage For Girls--Galway, Ireland.  
“Katie isn’t this exciting?!” The blonde cried, grabbing the black-haired girl's hand. “We’re here! We’re really here!”  
The black-haired girl, Katie, flushed red. “Y--yeah...Let go of my hand.”  
“Oh!” The blonde looked at the others. “I’m sorry for not introducing myself, I’m just so excited! I’m Delilah Bellezza.” She had a strange accent, some form of French mixed with Irish. “This is my friend, Katie Ashthorn.” Katie didn’t acknowledge anyone else’s presence. She glanced at Remmy, who was staring.  
“I’m Charlotte Verntill,” Charlotte said with a smile. “It’s nice to meet all of you!”  
“I’m Taylor Volpin,” The purple-haired girl chimed in. “And you, tall girl, what’s your name?”  
Remmy furrowed her eyebrows and shrugged. “Remmy Sedriel.”  
“I knew it,” Katie muttered.  
“What is it?” Delilah questioned. Katie shook her head.  
The boats started moving towards the castle, illuminated with yellow light. All of the first years gazed with awe at the lights as the view of the castle came more and more clear.  
Eventually, they came to a stop at the docks. Another man was there, holding a lantern high over his head. He was hunched over, and a cat followed him.  
“Alright now,” The man grumbled. “This way.”  
The first years followed the man to a large hall with two pairs of large doors. Right outside the left pair was a tall, lean woman with a large hat and a velvet dress.  
“Thank you, Mr. Filch, I’ll take it from here,” The woman said. The man walked out of the hall. “Welcome, students, to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am Professor Minerva McGonagall. In a few moments, these doors will open, and you will be sorted into one of four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin.”  
Murmurs went up around the crowd, which were silenced by the Professor raising her hand.  
“Once you are sorted, you will go sit at the table that corresponds with your house. Then the Headmaster will give a speech, and the feast will begin. Fall in line, students.”  
The group made a line that was relatively straight, and McGonagall opened the doors, revealing a large crowd. The other students clapped as the first years walked in. Charlotte looked over at one of the tables and saw the four boys she had met on the train, all cheering loudly.  
Silence fell upon the crowd as McGonagall pulled out a large, old hat.  
“Once the sorting hat is upon your head, it will tell you your house. Your house is final, and may not be changed. Let us first have...Adams, Barnaby.”  
Many people were sorted into their houses before Charlotte recognized a name.  
“Ashthorn, Katie.”  
Katie walked up to the hat, sitting on the stool. The hat was placed upon her head. After a few moments of silence…  
“Ravenclaw!”  
The table with blue banners clapped and cheered, and Katie smirked as she walked to the table. Delilah was also cheering, clapping, and hollering for her friend.  
“Bellezza, Delilah.”  
Charlotte heard Delilah’s breath hitch. She walked slowly up to the hat.  
“Gryffindor!”  
Delilah’s face showed only confusion and sadness, despite the loud cheers from the Gryffindor table. She looked at the Ravenclaw table and frowned before walking over to the Gryffindor table. Katie turned away.  
After several more people, another name she recognized was called:  
“Sedriel, Remmy.”  
Remmy gave a thumbs up to Charlotte as she walked up to the hat. She took a deep breath as the hat was placed on her head.  
“Gryffindor!”   
Remmy smiled, walking towards the Gryffindor table. The boys on the train immediately greeted her with cheers and laughter, Sirius punching her arm playfully.  
Again, several more passed… After what seemed like forever…  
“Verntill, Charlotte.”  
Charlotte’s mind began to race. Her stomach was filled with butterflies, and her nerves nearly got the better of her. She shook her head and walked up to the hat.  
Ah, yes...Verntill.  
You speak?! Charlotte nearly said aloud.  
Not exactly. Only you can hear me. I remember your mother and father... both Hufflepuffs, I believe. But you...Yes, you’re different. As far as I can tell, you have a very very brave heart. Your mind is strong, as well, but not nearly as strong as your will. And for that reason, you will be…  
“Gryffindor!” She felt the announcement echo in her mind. She smiled, content that she would know some people in her house. Just as she sat down, another name was called.  
“Volpin, Taylor.”  
Taylor walked up to the hat confidently. The hat was on her head for probably a few minutes. Taylor would occasionally make a face. The hat audibly sighed before saying…  
“Gryffindor!”  
Taylor pumped her fist, walking over to the Gryffindor table and sitting down.  
After only a few more people, the Headmaster walked up to the podium.  
“Welcome, all new first years!” The man said, silencing the entire crowd. “And for those of you returning, welcome back. Now, I want to reiterate some rules for you all…”  
Charlotte tuned out this part. Seemingly, most of the Gryffindor table did.  
“...Lastly, I want to introduce our newest Defense Against The Dark Arts professor for this year.”  
“Again?” James sighed. “This is getting ridiculous.”  
“What do you mean?” Remmy asked.  
“There hasn’t been a consistent Defense Against The Dark Arts Professor in decades,” Remus said. “Rumor is that there’s a curse. Dunno if it’s true though.”  
Everyone began clapping, and Charlotte cursed herself for not paying attention to the Professor’s name.  
“Now, only one thing is left: Enjoy your meal.”  
Food appeared on all of the plates and platters. Every student immediately began digging in.  
“James you bastard!” Sirius yelled, smacking James’s fork out of his hand. “Don’t hog all of the meat! I’ll kick your ass right now!”  
The two bickered over who deserved more meat. Eventually, Remus took the entire platter and distributed it to the rest of the people around them except for James and Sirius.  
“So, Firsties,” Sirius said, his mouth full of bread. “What’re your stories?”  
“I’m sorry, Firsties?” Remus said with a laugh. “You’re ridiculous.”  
“Would you prefer babies? Younglings? Prepubescent humans?”  
“Just...stop talking.”  
James and Peter laughed. James looked next to him, where Delilah and Taylor were sitting.  
“Oi, you,” James asked Delilah, “why’re you so down? You’re with the cream of the crop right now!”  
“Oh, umm…” Delilah began. “I was actually hoping to get into Ravenclaw, with my friend. I sure hope we get to see each other…”  
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Remus said. “All classes are mixed-house. The only problem is seeing each other in the dorms since all of them have different ways to get in. Gryffindor and Slytherin both just have spoken passwords, so that’s easy, but Ravenclaw...What do you have to do for Ravenclaw again?”  
“I think it’s a riddle or something,” Peter shrugged. “Hufflepuff just has a secret knock.”  
“Yeah, but if you do it wrong, you get vinegar in your eyes. Trust me, I’ve tried,” James said.  
“So, we can still see each other?” Delilah asked hopefully.  
“Oh yeah definitely!” James said. “But I think it’s better if you make some friends within your house. Speaking of friends, what’s your name?”  
“Oh, I’m Delilah Bellezza,” Delilah said with a smile. “This is Taylor Volpin, her, my friend and I sat together on the train.”  
Taylor made a peace sign before digging back into her meal.  
The rest of the group introduced themselves. They spent the rest of the feast talking and laughing with each other.  
“First years, First-year Gryffindors, follow me!”  
“Damn, Prefect’s here already?” Sirius said. “Well, you all better go. You can meet us in the Common Room, we’ll be along.”  
The four girls as well as the other first years all followed the Gryffindor Prefect to the Gryffindor tower.  
“This is the Fat Lady portrait,” The Prefect said.  
“That’s not a very nice nickname,” Remmy added.  
“...It’s not a nickname, it’s her na--Nevermind. You will tell her the password, which I will say in a moment, and she will let you in the tower.” The prefect cleared his throat. “De pueros oculis aurum de cordibus vestris.”  
The portrait swung open, revealing the Common Room.  
“That is the longest damned password I’ve ever heard,” Taylor said, raising an eyebrow.  
“The password changes after a few weeks or so. This long password is just to make sure the Slytherins don’t sneak in,” The other prefect answered.  
The prefects gave a brief tour of the tower. “Girls are on the left, boys are on the right. You can go on the other side, but we better not catch anyone being gross. Also, dorms are first come, first serve, so claim your dorm as soon as possible.  
Ones with signs are already claimed. The eighth, sixth, and second floors are mostly empty, so start there.”  
The four girls agreed to share a dorm together and decided to go up to the eighth floor. Remmy chose room 808, at the very end of the hall. As they opened the door, each of their names slowly showed up, carved onto the metal plate under the room number.  
Their luggage, somehow, was already in their dorm, one set by each of the beds.  
“Phew!” Remmy said, face planting onto her bed.  
“Agreed,” Charlotte groaned, sitting on the edge of hers.  
Delilah immediately walked to the bathroom, taking off her skirt and uniform sweater, revealing only leggings and a button-up shirt. She put her hair in a ponytail and threw her sweater and skirt on the ground. “Woo! I get to wear a different uniform!”  
Taylor had been jumping on her bed. “How are you all tired?! I’m still so energized, I could probably run across the castle.”  
“Yeah, but could you run back?” Charlotte asked.  
“...Ask me after I run across the castle.”  
The girls laughed. They talked as they unpacked their stuff and organized their room. They had nearly forgotten that they had only just met on a boat ride.  
“Hey, didn’t the fourth years want to meet us after we got settled?” Charlotte asked.  
“Oh, to hell with them!” Taylor said. “I vote we instead turn this place into a pillow fort.”  
The girls all agreed. Taylor was assigned with asking around for extra blankets and pillows. Charlotte and Remmy moved the furniture. Delilah put the blankets up. Soon the dormitory had turned into one big blanket fort.  
“This is the best thing I’ve ever done,” Delilah said. “If I did this at home, I would be put on cleaning duty for a week.”  
“Well, Hogwarts doesn’t say we can’t rearrange dorms,” Charlotte shrugged. “Since we’re all dorm mates...Let’s all stick together, yeah?”  
“Yeah!” Taylor said enthusiastically.  
“I’d be down for that,” Remmy said.  
“Of course!” Delilah cheered.  
The girls spent the rest of the night talking in their room, only falling asleep when they were too tired to stand.  
Charlotte was half awake, looking out the window. She stood up to go back to sleep and saw Salem, the cat, across the room and staring out the other window. She barely noticed the cat had gone off. The cat stared into Charlotte’s eye, and she could've sworn she saw her wink.


	3. Class in Session

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls go to class, Remmy seems to be hiding something about Katie, and Katie is generally unpleasant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> remmy-katie thing will make sense later on - don't worry, we have 7 pages of outlines in the like, we know what we're doing this time. a bit about the original story, there was a lot of outing people, way worse language (for 11 year olds) that included delilah calling herself and katie sluts multiple times. all the gay people acted homophobic too. on top of that it was generally just really bad grammar and the like. thanks for reading and enjoy! <3
> 
> -sydney and natalie

“Hey. Hey Charlotte, wake up. We’re going to be late for class.” Charlotte blinked her eyes open and saw golden hair falling into her face.  
“Wha- Where am I?” Charlotte sat up, knocking into Delilah’s head. They both drew back, wincing. “Oh... Hogwarts, right? Oh! Delilah, Delilah, I’m so sorry!” Charlotte moved carefully out of bed with a hand on her head.  
Delilah shook her head with an apologetic smile. “No, no, it’s my fault. I’m the one who woke you up like that. Sorry.” She brought her hand off her head, revealing a small bump. “Anyway! Let’s get ready for class, Remmy and Taylor are at breakfast already!”   
Charlotte stepped over to the chair in the corner, grabbing her uniform off of it. “Hey- oh, you’re already in your uniform?”   
Delilah nodded. “I’m used to getting up really early where I’m from, so even though classes start at nine, I’ve been up since six!” She tilted her head. “You’re the last one to get ready. Hurry up so we can walk to breakfast together!” Bouncing on her toes, she turned around. “I’ll be in the common room!”  
“Uh, okay.” Charlotte watched as Delilah left the dorm. She stared at the door for a second, then shook her head and put on her uniform. As she tucked her Gryffindor tie into her skirt, she wandered over to the bathroom to get ready. Charlotte glanced at herself in the mirror as she brushed her teeth. “Goo’ enof’” she muttered around the toothbrush.   
A bit later, she met Delilah in the common room. “Ready?” Charlotte asked. With a nod of Delilah’s head, they left Gryffindor tower and headed to the Great Hall.  
They walked into the vast Great hall and sat next to their roommates, who were also sitting across from the boys.  
“Morning!” Delilah said with a smile as she sat down to eat.  
“Mphning,” Taylor said with her mouth full of ham.  
“Morning,” Remmy said with a nod.  
“And here’s the other two!” Sirius said with an eyebrow raised. “Welcome to your first real day at Hogwarts.”  
“It’s...surreal!” Charlotte said with a sigh. “Do we have a schedule?”  
“Oh, yeah, actually. McGonagall passed these to the first years this morning.” Taylor handed Charlotte a small piece of parchment. She read her schedule to herself:

Charlotte Lola Verntill  
First year Gryffindor  
History of Magic--Cuthbert Binns  
Herbology--Pomona Sprout  
Charms--Filius Flitwick  
Flying--Rolanda Hooch  
Potions--Horace Slughorn  
Transfiguration--Minerva McGonagall   
Defense Against The Dark Arts--Amalia Elregard

“Elregard, huh?” Charlotte said. “You all mentioned that the Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher changes every year. What about the others?”  
“Hmm…” James thought for a moment. “As far as I know, the rest have stayed the same. Except for the flying teacher, she’s new this year… just graduated from a flight college in Scotland, I think.”  
“Well,” Taylor said, “The four of us should compare schedules, to make sure we have the same classes. What’ve you all got?”  
After comparing their schedules, they discovered that they all have History of Magic, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts together.  
“Damn, too bad we don’t have more…” Remmy mumbled.  
“I’m going to ask my friend Katie if she has classes with me, I’ll be right back!” Delilah started to walk off.  
“Is she ditching us?” Taylor wondered.  
“No, I don’t think so,” Charlotte said. “I think it’s nice to have another friend you can count on. No offense to you guys, of course.”  
“...I don’t like her.” Remmy sighed.  
“Who, Delilah?” Taylor asked.  
“No, the other girl. I could’ve sworn I--”  
“I’m back!” Delilah said with a smile. “Turns out we also have Charms with Katie. I also have Potions and Transfiguration with her.”  
Charlotte looked at Remmy, and then at Delilah before starting to speak again. “So, Delilah, what’s the deal with you and Katie? How’d you meet?”  
“Oh,” Delilah said. “Well, we actually live in the same neighborhood. Ran into each other at the park once, and we’ve been friends ever since. I think she used to live somewhere else though, before Galway.”  
Remmy sighed. “Yeah, she did, actually. I thought I knew her.”  
“What?!” Delilah said. “You and Katie are friends too?! That’s so awesome!”  
“Well, um,” Remmy began, “we aren’t friends anymore. Something happened. That’s actually why her family moved away. We aren’t exactly on good terms.”  
“Oh…” Delilah frowned. “I can have us steer clear when you’re around--”  
“No, no, don’t go through that trouble,” Remmy said. “You can do whatever you want, she’s your friend.”  
Delilah seemed relieved. A bell tolled, signaling it was time for their first class.  
“History of magic, here we come,” Taylor said rather unenthusiastically.  
“I just hope we aren’t learning about anything stupid…” Remmy sighed.  
James laughed. “Oh, History of Magic is by far the worst class ever. And it doesn’t get any better after the first year. Good luck.”  
The boys walked off. Assumingly, they somehow made it so they have all of their classes together. Laughter could be heard across the corridor and several shouts such as Damn it, Potter! And Black, don’t climb on the statues! Could be heard.  
“At least they’re having fun,” Taylor laughed. “Let’s go.”  
~~~~~~~  
“I never want to go to that class ever again!” Groaned Charlotte.  
“Agreed,” Remmy said, her feet dragging behind her as she walked.  
“I thought having a ghost as a teacher would make things interesting!” Taylor sighed.  
“I would rather watch paint dry.” Delilah’s hands were covering her face.  
“Well, hello, baby Gryffindors,” said James, walking up to the girls. “I see History of Magic went wonderfully.”  
“I can’t believe you were right,” Charlotte sighed.  
“I would never lie to you, Verntill, never.”  
“I suppose we have to go our separate ways now,” Charlotte sighed. “See you all at charms.”  
All of the students walked off to their classes. Charlotte walked into the greenhouses, where Herbology was.  
On the way, she ran into someone she didn’t expect.  
“Watch where you’re going,” Katie barked.  
“Oh, you’re Katie, right? Delilah’s friend.” Charlotte ignored Katie’s statement.  
“And?”  
“...I was just wondering, what’s the deal with you and Remmy? She mentioned that you used to be friends, but something happened between you two.”  
“It’s none of your business. Now move.”  
“...We’re both in this class.”  
“Okay, so move, so I can go inside of it.”  
“Damn, okay, okay.” Charlotte moved out of the way, letting Katie enter the Greenhouse first, and then entering herself.  
~~~~~~~  
Herbology was an interesting class. Charlotte would’ve enjoyed it more if it wasn’t for Katie glaring at her for most of it.  
“You’re in Charms with all of us, aren’t you?” Charlotte wondered.  
“Yes. Why?” Katie asked.  
“Just wondering.”  
The two walked to Charms next to each other in silence.  
They met Delilah, Remmy, and Taylor inside. Katie, of course, sat right next to Delilah. Charlotte sat in between Taylor and Remmy.  
“Welcome to Charms class!” Began the Professor. “We are going to get started right away with the curriculum. I want you to repeat after me…”  
“Psst,” Taylor whispered to Charlotte.  
“What?”  
“Katie.”  
“What about her?  
“Did you find out anything about her and Remmy?”  
“No, she said it wasn’t any of my business.”  
“Damn...She seems off to me. I’m trying to find a reason to dislike her.”  
“If we take into consideration the fact that she hates us for no reason, I think that's plenty enough to go on.”  
“She’s just jealous, I think.”  
That was the last thing that was said for nearly the rest of class, except for the whisperings of Wingardium Leviosa as practice for doing the real spell in class the next day.  
~~~~~~~  
The rest of the day went over smoothly. Charlotte decided Flying really wasn’t her forte, but she had to complete the class to be able to skip it next year. Potions was interesting, but again, she preferred spellwork… Transfiguration was nice enough, though they didn’t learn any spells that day. It was now time for Defense Against the Dark Arts, which the four girls all happened to have together.  
“Where’s the Professor?” A Hufflepuff boy wondered. It had been ten minutes since class had started, and there was no sign of their Professor.  
Charlotte and Remmy sat together, as did Taylor and Delilah. They sat in two-person desks, just across the aisle. They looked at each other with confusion from their missing Professor.  
Just as they were about to speak about it, the door rammed open.  
“Sorry about that,” said a woman. She had long black hair which she wore in a pony-tail atop her head. She had a Russian accent. “I am Professor Amalia Elregard, your Defense Against The Dark Arts Professor until further notice. I am an Auror of the Ministry of Magic. I know all there is to know about this subject. Trust that you are all in good hands this year.”  
“Way to make a dramatic entrance,” Remmy whispered to Charlotte, who was trying not to laugh.  
Professor Elregard was writing on the chalkboard very quickly. Charlotte saw that she was writing: What are the Dark Arts?  
“Now, I know none of you like the academic portion of these classes, and want to dive straight into the spells and fun stuff,” Professor Elregard began. “However, it is extremely important we understand the Theory behind this course, so you may know the difference between transfiguring, charms, and defensive spells. Can anyone tell me their definition of what they think the Dark Arts are?”  
No one raised their hand. No one seemed very excited about the class.  
“If I, right now, decided to disarm that young lass in the front--” Professor Elregard pointed to Delilah. “--Would that be considered a Dark Art?”  
“No, Professor, that is a charm,” Said a Ravenclaw boy.  
“Correct. What if I were to try and...say, set fire to her blazer. Is that defensive?”  
No one answered.  
“You see, the Dark Arts is a very...broad term. There's a thin line between defensive spells and the dark arts. But defensive spells are exactly that: Defensive. If someone attacks you first, and you blast them back, you’re defending yourself, yes?”  
Everyone nodded, obviously not seeing where she was going with this.  
“But, if I blasted someone back unprovoked...I go on the offensive. While it may not exactly be considered ‘dark arts’ at that point, it still is not defensive. What is most important for you all to understand is that unless you are in immediate danger, using the spells I am teaching you is unnecessary. Do you understand?”  
Charlotte looked around the room to look at everyone nodding. She noticed Remmy had a quill in her mouth that she was chewing. Her teeth looked sharp, almost like fangs.  
“The Dark arts, by definition of the Ministry of magic is: any spell or magical object that is used for only malicious purposes, or any form of magic practiced solely by Dark witches and wizards.” Elregard wrote this definition on the board. “Of course, that means any spell with malicious intent is considered a dark art. That is why this definition is...futile. To be quite honest with you all, the ministry doesn’t really know the classifications of the dark arts either. I dislike the term in general, but it’s necessary for me to teach you, especially with the current situation our world is in.”  
“Are you talking about...him, Professor?” asked a Hufflepuff.  
“Yes. He-who-must-not-be-named is a dangerous force. You all are our future, wizards. If we, your elders and your teachers, cannot protect you...well, we have no future left.”  
Elregard looked at the clock. “Even though there’s still quite a bit of class left, I have no reason to keep you. In your textbooks, there are around five to six pages in the beginning talking extensively about the theory of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Please read it and make sure you have built your own, original understanding of it, and tomorrow we will discuss it. Don’t worry, I won’t dwell on this too long. Go on.”  
The class all immediately got up and started out the door. The four girls stood right next to it, just inside, and talked amongst themselves.  
“D’you think Professor Elregard will tell us about what James and the others were on about on the train?” Charlotte asked.  
“I don’t know…” Taylor thought. “It’s more likely that Sirius will tell us than a Professor. Why don’t we wait to see if they talk about it more?”  
“I think that’s fair,” Delilah said with a shrug. “If it has anything to do with the war, I’m sure it’ll be in the Prophet soon anyways.”  
Charlotte wasn’t satisfied with this answer, but she figured it was better to leave it alone for now. Out of the corner of her eye, as she was walking out of the room, she saw Salem the cat sitting right at the top of the stairs, mewling at passerby, but staring right into the eyes of Charlotte. She felt a shiver go down her spine as she turned the corner to walk towards the courtyard.


	4. Listening In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remmy and Lupin get called to the headmaster's office and the girls try to pry in, but to their dismay it fails.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sydney - i want to reiterate that we wrote this in 6th grade, it's been around 4 or 5 years and i'm emotionally attached to the name remmy. she used to be named remington. i'm painfully aware of the remmy remus thing and since it pains me physically to put their names in the same sentence, i'll refer remus as lupin in chapter summaries. in the actual text, they call remus moony or lupin, and almost all the time they refer to remmy as ginger or sedriel, so i hope it isn't too confusing. also, i mostly just do edits and write a little, but i'm the one posting these here. thank you!
> 
> natalie - she doesn't post, but she's the one writing the story for the most part. delilah and taylor, katie and uriah, and ezekiel are her characters she made, remmy and charlotte belong to syd. not much to say here, thanks again!
> 
> -sydney and natalie

Charlotte leaned against the 808 door, unlocking it and falling into the room, the other members in tow.  
“Holy shit,” Remmy said, flopping onto her bed. “Hard to believe that I have to do that for seven years.”  
“That’s the reality now, girls,” Delilah groaned. “I’m glad we’re here though.”  
The girls agreed silently. They started talking, fixing their blanket fort from this morning’s shenanigans when they heard a knock at their door.  
Charlotte went to open it. Remus stood at the door.  
“Oh, Lupin,” Charlotte said. “Is there something you need?”  
“Yeah, actually. I was told that Sedriel and I need to see Professor Dumbledore.” Remus leaned against the door frame with his hands in his pockets.  
“The headmaster!?” Taylor said. “Remmy, you pissed that old fart off already?”  
“I--what? No.-” Remmy shook her head. “I think I know what this is about. I’ll be back later.”  
Remmy and Remus walked away, leaving Charlotte, Delilah and Taylor alone.  
“What’d you think it means?” Taylor wondered.  
“Hmm…” Charlotte looked out the window. “Whatever it is, it isn’t any of our business. At least for now. Remus obviously knows, maybe James and Sirius have an idea.”  
“I thought you said it wasn’t any of our business?” Delilah said.  
“Who’s to say we can’t stick our nose in other people’s business?”  
Taylor smirked. Delilah sighed but smiled as well.  
“I wonder where they are..?” Charlotte wondered.  
“We don’t know their dorm. Maybe the other Gryffindors know.” Taylor jumped off of her bed and started downstairs.  
Walking into the common room, they saw several Gryffindor boys on the couches.  
“Excuse me,” Charlotte began.  
“Shh!” The boy said. “If you want advice or something, go talk to a prefect, not us. We’re busy.”  
Charlotte sighed. Taylor was about to open her mouth, but Delilah held a hand up.  
Delilah cleared her throat and walked in front of the boys. “Hello! We need some help finding our friend’s dorm. Can you tell me where James Potter and Sirius Black sleep?” Her voice was sweet, nearly sugar-coated.  
“...Dorm 502...Boys side...It has a carving on it…” The first boy said.  
“Thank you!”  
The girls began walking up to the fifth floor of the boys dorms.  
“How in the hell did you do that?” Charlotte asked.  
“Just one of my many talents, Verntill,” Delilah said with a smirk. She walked up to room 502. They stopped at the door, looking at the carving: Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs’ dorm!!! Don’t enter!! Especially ---  
The names after that were crossed out.  
“...Are those nicknames?” Charlotte wondered.  
“Maybe last names from a few years ago…?” Taylor wondered.  
“No, those are too weird for last names.”  
They wanted to debate further on what they could be when James opened the door. “Welcome, our star pupils! Oh--where’s the tall one?”  
“With Remus. We think she’s hiding something from us.”  
“...I mean, you met yesterday. Of course she’s hiding something. Why’re you asking us?”  
“Well, since Remus was going with her, we thought you would know.”  
Sirius came at the door. “Don’t ask questions about that stuff. If she wanted you to know, she would’ve told you. But…”  
James looked at Sirius. “If you want something to tell you where they are… We have just the thing.”  
James and Sirius gestured for them to come inside. Inside the dorm, it was extremely messy. Clothes and books strewed the floor. One of the beds was even turned on its side. James began digging through a pile of papers, pulling out a large stack of folded parchment.  
“Now, this is a secret. You understand? Never tell a soul about this parchment. It may be in progress, but it is reliable.”  
“Okay, but...What is it?” Taylor asked.  
“A map.” James pulled out his wand. “I solemnly swear I am up to no good.” Ink appeared on the parchment, revealing words: Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs present: The Marauder’s Map.  
“Woah!” Charlotte said. “Where did you get this?!”  
“We created it ourselves, youngling,” Sirius said, placing his hands on Charlotte’s shoulders.  
“Youngling…” James looked at Sirius. “Anyway, it’s a map. Eventually, we’ll map the whole school, but as of right now it only covers the Gryffindor and Slytherin dorms and about half of the Academic wing.”  
“A map?”  
“Indeed! But not just any map. It tracks everyone who enters and exits every part of the school.” James opened the map and pointed with his wand to a tower. All of their names appeared near there. He then pointed to the charms classroom, where Flitwick and Elregard were.  
“Oh my god,” Taylor said. “How--?”  
“That,” Sirius said, “we will never tell you. You know of the map, you don’t have to know how it works. We wouldn’t want anyone copying its elite technology, would we?”  
“So...The map...How do we use it?” Charlotte wondered.  
“To open it, you say: I solemnly swear I am up to no good. To close it: Mischief Managed. If someone tries to open it without saying those phrases, some magically generated comments will appear to chastise them.” Sirius said this with a hair tie in his mouth, trying to fix his hair.  
“This is...amazing!” Delilah said. “I can’t believe you--Actually...why did you make this?”  
James and Sirius looked at each other. “We have a bit of a reputation around here,” James said. “Pranksters, I guess. Everyone in the school knows us almost. We’re close to finishing our Opening Act for year four!”  
“What is it?!” Delilah asked eagerly.  
“Tsk tsk, Bellezza,” Sirius said. “It would ruin the surprise. Just wait.”  
The three girls stayed admiring the map. They had nearly forgotten what they had originally come here for.  
“So, James,” Charlotte began. “Can we...borrow it?”  
“Absolutely not,” James said. “I’m all for causing mischief, but you are not equipped. And I don’t trust you enough to not turn in the map. So, if I see you walking towards the caretaker’s office...we’ll have a problem.”  
“Ugh,” Taylor sighed. “Lame.”  
James and Sirius shrugged. “Too bad,” They said in unison. They turned to look at each other and poked each other.  
“Well, this was a bust,” Delilah groaned. “Let’s go expand our blanket fort. Taylor?”  
Taylor began grabbing random blankets from around the boy’s room. “Snooze you lose, boys.”  
They ran out with the blankets, James and Sirius chasing after them for them back.  
~~~~~~~~~ 

“So we all agree we’re sneaking off, right?” Taylor asked when they were out of James and Sirius’ earshot. She glanced behind them to see if the 502 boys had dropped the chase, and it looked like they had.  
Delilah dropped the blankets in their dorm. “They said they’d only get made if we went to the caretaker’s office, right?” She closed the door before they went into the room. "So they won't get upset if we go to the Headmaster's office… right?"  
Charlotte and Taylor nodded. "Makes sense to me," Charlotte said with a shrug. She led the other Gryffindors down the long staircase and out of the common room door. They made their way to Dumbledore's office. When Taylor went to press her ear to the door, it swung open, knocking her in the head.  
"Wha- Taylor? Ah- I'm so sorry!" Remmy dropped to the floor next to Taylor, bringing a hand to her head. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"  
Taylor propped herself up on her elbows. "Did you- no, no, I'm fine." She got on her feet, pulling Remmy by the hands. "Up we go. I'm fine."  
"So tell us why you were trying to listen in?" Remus leaned against the door. "Sedriel may not have noticed, but I know you were trying to listen through the door." He cocked his head. "So?"  
Charlotte laughed nervously. "Uh, you see Lupin… uh…"  
"We needed to ask Headmaster Dumbledore a question!" Delilah chimed in. "About our schedules. We were trying to figure out if you guys were done."  
Remus stepped out of the doorframe. "Sure." The girls watched as he walked away.  
They turned back towards Remmy. "Well, go back and ask about your schedules." A small smirk spread across her face, barely noticeable. "Or… were you trying to listen?"  
Delilah sighed. "We wanted to know why Dumbledore wanted to talk to you guys." She sidled up next to Remmy. "Care to tell us?"  
"Not really. Good on you for trying though," Remmy said as she gave Delilah a gentle push. "Anyway. Dinner?" With disappointed nods, the girls followed Remmy to the Great Hall.


	5. In Sickness and in Health

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remmy comes back into the dorm late at night, then skips class the next day, claiming to be sick. Charlotte runs into Katie, who questions if Remmy is actually sick. She and the others ask James and Sirius, who brush them off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sure it's painfully obvious that remmy is a werewolf by now. in the original, remmy was a carbon copy of remus - same hair color, scars in the exact same places, same personality basically. however over the years i (sydney) have redesigned her multiple times and by now she barely looks like remus, save for the scars (which are in different places now) and has an actual personality. i write this as i binge post, we're (nat mostly) currently writing the 7th chapter. the main plotline starts in around chapter 6 if i remember right. thank you again for reading <3
> 
> -sydney and natalie

Charlotte blearily opened her eyes to a dark room and the close and open of the dorm door. Glancing around, she saw it was 4:56am. "Who's…?" she muttered quietly. Sitting up a little, she saw a tall figure walk across the room and fall into bed. The full moon reflected on ginger hair. Charlotte wondered why Remmy was coming in so late. "Probably went to get food or something," she said quietly, and rolled back over. She quickly drifted off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She awoke again a few hours later by Taylor's shake. "You know we have an alarm right?" Charlotte groaned as she stepped onto the cold floor.   
Taylor shrugged. "'S more fun this way. Delilah, is Remmy awake yet?" She glanced at Charlotte and jerked her head to the other side of the room where Delilah was standing over the other girl's bed. Delilah turned and shook her head.  
"She says she feels sick. She's gonna stay here today." Delilah looked back at Remmy. "Are you sure? We can take you to the infirmary."   
A hand came out from under the covers and waved frantically. "No! No, it's fine-- just take notes for me, okay?" Remmy drew her hand back under the covers. "I'll be there tomorrow, and we can study or whatever tonight, alright?"   
The other three girls exchanged a look. "Yeah, we'll take notes," Charlotte said, pulling her tie around her neck. "We'll tell Mcgonnagal too. Feel better." Charlotte, Delilah, and Taylor left the room and headed down the stairs.  
"Hey, firsts!" Sirius called from the bottom of the stairs. "Oh, there you are. Come on, we'll go to breakfast together."  
James appeared from around the corner. "Remmy not with you?   
Taylor shook her head. "She said she felt sick, so she's staying here today. Hey, where's Remus?"   
James and Sirius exchanged a glance. "Uh, Peter needed a lot of help with his homework so Remus is staying here with him today."  
Delilah nodded. "Right, well, let's go to breakfast."   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Charlotte yawned, looking around the lawn. They were about through with Flying class, only 5 or so minutes remained.   
“Verntill!” Charlotte’s eyes snapped back open and she looked up to see Madam Hooch. “Stop spacing out. Class may be almost over, but the most important information is always in the last few minutes.”  
Charlotte picked her broom back up with a sheepish smile. “Sorry, Madam Hooch-- it’s just Remmy is sick and I’m a little worried.”  
Madam Hooch’s face softened and she crouched down to Charlotte’s height. “Verntill, I’m sure she’s fine,” she said, holding onto her own broom for balance. “You have lunch next, don’t you? Why don’t you go check on her then?” She stood up, ruffling Charlotte’s hair. Charlotte scoffed a little, but grinned and said her thanks as she got back on her broom.   
She walked into the Great Hall and spotted Taylor’s purple hair. Charlotte made her way to Gryffindor table, sitting down in the midst of first and third-years. “Hi guys!” she said with a wave, already picking up an extra plate.   
James eyed the first-year. “Any particular reason you’re getting another plate, or are you just feeling especially peckish after… What class did you have?”  
“Flying,” Sirius said through a mouthful of food. “And she-” he pointed to Delilah with a fork- “just had Potions, and the short one had Herbology.”   
Taylor rolled her eyes and Delilah stuck her fork in a pile of mashed potatoes. “Why- how do you know our classes?” Delilah asked.   
Sirius shrugged. “Just do. Anyway, Charlotte, were you going to bring Ginger- Remmy a plate or something? The house elves bring food to skipping kids, you know.” He turned to James, waving a knife dangerously close to James’ nose. “Isn’t that right?”   
James laughed nervously, pushing the knife away from his face. “Uh-huh. Charlotte, go check on your friend. Siri, stop sticking knives in my face. You know how disappointed Mum would be if this handsome face got ruined?” Charlotte stood and left, listening to the echoing laughter from where she sat before.   
She hitched her bag over her shoulder. While she wasn’t paying attention, she ran head on-- head to shoulder-- into someone. “Oh, Katie!” Charlotte gasped, stepping back. “Sorry, are you alright?”   
Katie hissed in pain as she drew away. “Watch it, dumbass. Why are you leaving in the middle of lunch, anyway?” She crossed her arms and waited for the other girl to answer.   
Charlotte looked down at Katie. “Aren’t you leav- whatever. Uh, I’m going to check on Remmy. She’s sick.”   
“Oh, Rem’s sick again?”   
“Remmy- Rem’s just not feeling well, alright?” Charlotte pushed past Katie. “Move.” She continued down the hallway, ignoring the sound of Katie scoffing and walking away. Running her hand along the cold stone wall, she came upon the Gryffindor painting. “Ugh, what’s the password again?” she murmured.   
The Fat Lady looked down on her. “Oh, Charlotte Verntill! I know you, the password is fine.” She opened the door, letting Charlotte into the common room. Charlotte gave her thanks and started up the long staircase to their dorm. Finally reaching the last dorm, 808, she pushed open the door while forgetting to knock. Remus sat on the edge of Remmy’s bed, holding something that Charlotte didn’t see before he shoved it under his leg.   
“Lupin, hi!” Charlotte waved, dropping her bag at her feet. “Are you checking on Remmy- Rem, too?”  
“Re- yeah, fine. Yeah, he was just bringing me some stuff from, uh, the house elves,” Remmy said, pulling the covers back over herself. Charlotte didn’t notice. “Aren’t you supposed to be at lunch right now?”  
Charlotte shrugged. “Yeah, but I wanted to see how you were doing.” She turned towards Remus, who had pulled his sleeves down from where they once stayed on his elbows. “How’s studying with Peter?”  
Remus shifted on the bed. “Study… Oh, it’s fine, going well. He wanted a quick break so I came to see how Ginger was doing. Always got to check on the first-years, you know?” He seemed to stuff something under a blanket. “I’ll, uh, check on you again in like, an hour, alright?”   
Remmy nodded. “Yeah, thanks.” She nudged whatever Remus had hid with her foot. “See you.”   
Charlotte held the door for Remus as he left. “So how’s it-”  
“Hey-” interrupted Remmy. “Could you grab my sweatshirt over there? The black one, yeah. Thanks.” She pulled it over her head, pulling her hair out and pushing the covers off of herself. She sat up. “Sorry, I know it’s only like the second week, I just had a bad headache.”   
Charlotte shook her head. “S’all good. If you’re sick, you’re sick.” She dug in her bag for a second. “Here’s some of the homework… Delilah and Taylor should get the rest for you.” She put it on Remmy’s lap. Charlotte glanced at the clock. “I should get going, see you later.”  
Remmy nodded. “Wait, did you run into Katie? Only she called me Rem when we were little.”   
“Yeah, she said you get sick a lot?” Charlotte paused in the doorway.  
Remmy shifted uncomfortably. “Mmm-hmm. Migraines.”   
“Alright, well, feel better.” Charlotte closed the door behind her, leaving Remmy alone again.   
Walking down the long spiral staircase, Charlotte glanced out the window. Was the moon always out at - she checked her watch - 13:21? Shrugging, she left the Common Room to find the other Gryffindors. 

“How was Remmy?” Delilah asked as she stood up from the table and brushed off her uniform.   
Charlotte nodded absentmindedly. “Good, good, oh-” she jerked her head up. “-you know Katie calls her Rem? It’s kind of cool.” She picked her bag up from the table, motioning for the other two girls to follow her into the hallway.   
“Yeah, Rem’s cooler sounding than Remmy. No offence- nevermind, she’s not here.” Taylor laughed. “I’ve already gotten used to us all being together.”   
Delilah grinned. “It’s hard not to. I mean, when you spend a lifetime in an orphanage full of people you like,” she started, “and then you meet people you actually do like, you just… what’s the word?” She bowed her head in thought, then brought it back up. “Oh! You stick together - kind of like a pack of wolves?”  
“Hah- you think we’re like wolves?” Charlotte snickered. “I think Rem’s the closest to a wolf. She’s quiet and a little intimidated - she’d be the alpha, I think.”   
They came to the courtyard entrance and paused, looking out over the lawn. Nobody else was there yet, save for Madam Hooch polishing brooms on one of the benches. Charlotte groaned. “Ugh,” she said, stepping onto the lawn. “Besides History of Magic, Flying’s my least favorite class. I can never do it right.”   
Taylor punched her in the arm.  
“Ow- Taylor, what?”  
“You say you’re bad now, but I bet you’ll be on the Quidditch team by 4th year. 10 Galleons.”  
Charlotte raised her eyebrows. “Big bet to keep- I’ll take it. Hey, is that James and Sirius?”   
The boys walked over to them, brooms in hand. “Hey! We got Madam Hooch to let us help your class with flying!” James said with a wide grin.   
Sirius leaned into James’ shoulder. “One of you has got to have Quidditch potential. Either Delilah or Charlotte.” He glanced around. “Remmy still sick?”  
Charlotte nodded. “When I went in to give her the work, Remus was checking in. I think he said Peter needed a break?”   
James laughed. “He would need a break. No offence, but the guy’s dumb as a rock.”   
“Students! Teacher’s assistants!” Madam Hooch shouted. “Class is starting at promptly 14:05, it is 14:03!”   
The five of them walked onto the lawn, picking up brooms on the way- except for James and Sirius, who already had their Quidditch-certified broomsticks in their hands.   
“Alright, first-years,” Sirius said, twirling the Nimbus in his hands. “You’re going to want to step over your brooms, like this.”  
“Sirius,” said Delilah. “We know how to get on. We’ve been in this class for like, a month, or something.” Sirius frowned and shushed her.   
James nudged him. “She’s right, they aren’t babies. They know how to fly, at least.”  
Charlotte exchanged a glance with Taylor. “Uh, I can’t- nevermind,” she said.   
“Huh? What was that?”  
“Nothing.” Charlotte shook her head. “Ignore me.”  
James furrowed his eyebrows, then looked away towards the rest of the class. “So you’ll want to use your legs for balance…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Charlotte pushed open the dorm door, the other girls behind her, it was silent. Charlotte looked around--Remmy was nowhere to be seen.  
“Hey, where is she?” Taylor wondered. “Remmy~?” She yanked the comforter off of Remmy’s bed. Of course, she wasn’t there.  
“Huh…” Delilah wondered. “You would think if she was sick she would stay here, right?”  
The door opened behind them. Charlotte whipped her head around to see Peter.  
“Oh...Umm…” He whispered. “I didn’t realize you were back. Remus and Remmy had to go to the hospital wing, and Remmy wanted me to bring something…”  
“What’d she need? We’ll meet you over there.” Delilah stepped in front.  
“Oh...A sweater, I think? And a book.”  
“Oh, she was reading a History of Magic book, right?” Taylor wondered. “I think she leaves it in the wardrobe.”  
“If you can find it, then I guess I’ll go back…” Peter walked out of the room.  
“Nice save, Delilah,” Charlotte said with a sigh. “I’m not very comfortable with...him rummaging through our stuff.”  
“Well, I just wanted to be able to see them at the hospital wing, but that too,” Delilah laughed, grabbing one of Remmy’s sweaters from the floor.  
Taylor held up the book. “I can’t believe she reads this stuff for fun…”  
“Well, we have everything, let’s go see what they’re up to.” Charlotte walked out of the dorm, the other three following behind.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
As they walked into the infirmary, Madame Pomfrey could be heard scolding Remus.  
“--swear on Merlin’s grave, Lupin, if you do something as stupid as that during a full moon again--Oh! Visitors. Excuse me, what did you need?” Madame Pomfrey stopped her scolding, at which Remus bit his lip and rolled his eyes.  
“We brought Remmy’s stuff,” Charlotte said with a smile. Taylor and Delilah handed Remmy the sweater and book.  
“Oh, thanks,” Remmy said with a nod. She shoved the sweater over her head and placed the book at the table beside her bed.  
“Are your migraines really that bad that you have to go to the hospital wing?!” Charlotte said.  
“Well, sometimes it isn’t this bad. It’s kind of on a...cycle.” Remmy and Remus looked at each other. Remus held in a laugh and rolled his eyes once more.  
“...What kind of cycle?” Delilah asked.  
“Ew, what?” Remmy said. “I’m not- I didn’t mean that kind of cycle, idiot.”  
“To be fair, that’s what it sounded like,” Taylor shrugged.  
“Okay, but seriously, what are you talking about?” Charlotte asked.  
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.” Remus said this as he grabbed a chocolate bar from his bedside.  
“Why’re you here, Remus?” Taylor asked. “Wow, that sounded really aggressive… But you aren’t sick, right?”  
“Oh...Umm…” Remus looked at Taylor in surprise, as if he wasn’t expecting the question. “Well, I have--”  
“A condition,” Sirius said, bursting through the doors to the hospital wing. “Kind of sucks. He has to get check ups.”  
Charlotte saw Remus mouth something to Sirius: Wow, that’s the smartest thing you have ever thought of. Sirius stuck his tongue out.  
James smacked the top of the door frame as he walked in. “Ah, the firsties!”  
“See! It caught on!” Sirius said happily. Remus shook his head.  
“Potter, Black, Pettigrew, Verntill, Volpin and Bellezza, if I have to drag you out of this wing myself, I will! Let them rest!” Madame Pomfrey shooed everyone out.  
The six of them walked away.  
“I’m a little confused,” Charlotte sighed.  
“Confused how?” James asked.  
“I dunno, something about this doesn’t make sense…” Charlotte responded.  
“Trust me when I say that this is completely normal,” James said. “We’ve known Remus since our first year, this is just how it is.”  
“But don’t you think it’s a little suspicious?” Delilah said.  
“We said not to worry about it, firsties. Lay off.” Sirius said this, wrapping his arms around Peter and James as they walked down the hallway.  
Charlotte watched in confusion as they walked away. “Must be touchy…”  
“I guess so,” Taylor sighed. “Hey, Charlotte, isn’t that your cat?” Taylor pointed to a chandelier in the hall. Sure enough, Salem the cat, whom Charlotte hadn’t seen in a few weeks, was resting on top.  
“How did Salem--Oh my god, what if she falls?!” Charlotte ran under the chandelier.  
“It’s a cat, Charlotte,” Delilah laughed. “They land on their feet…” Delilah looked at Salem with...disdain? Disgust? Fear?  
“Do you not like cats?” Charlotte wondered.  
“...Definitely not my favorite animal.”  
“Oh well,” Charlotte shrugged. “Let’s get a teacher, maybe we can get her down.”  
The three rushed to grab a teacher, but by the time they got back, there was no trace of Salem around the hall.


	6. When it Rains...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A gloom falls over Hogwarts, seemingly brought by the onslaught of rainfall. Everyone receives a copy of the Daily Prophet, which talks about a so-called 'miracle drug'. The girls briefly meet Lily and Severus and are dragged into a prank by the Marauders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! if you read carefully, you'll notice the line '...remmy and delilah, whose stares seemed to linger too long'. this hopefully will lead on to tell of their backstories, which'll be revealed in year 3 and 2, respectively. i don't have a whole lot to say, so thanks again for reading and enjoy :)

It was a rainy Sunday morning. Dorm 808 was eating in the Great Hall during breakfast, people watching. They were having a silent, peaceful time, until…  
“Goooooood morning firsties!” Sirius said, practically jumping onto the bench. “What a wonderful day, huh?”  
“You ruined the moment,” Remmy groaned. She had gotten over her sickness a week or so ago.  
“I did not! I made it better!” Sirius said, shovelling food into his mouth.  
James sat down next to him, as did Remus and Peter. “You all look so gloomy! Do something interesting, like run in puddles or turn tiny frogs the size of a building. You’re acting like depressed seventh years, not eleven year olds.”  
“Oh, shove it,” Delilah retorted. “I bet when you were eleven you made sex jokes and snorted pure sugar.”  
“But sex jokes are funny,” James, Sirius, Taylor and Remmy said all at once.  
Charlotte and Delilah sighed.  
“Okay, fine, fine,” James sighed. “We’ll let you be peaceful. Mail’s coming today, I wonder if you’ll get anything?”  
“Hah!” Delilah laughed. “As if.”  
“My parents obsessively owled me for weeks, but they suddenly stopped...I wonder if they’re okay?” Charlotte wondered aloud.  
“Isn’t one a doctor and the other a journalist?” Remmy asked. “Probably busy. Maybe there were more attacks and they have work.”  
“They’ve never neglected to talk to me before…” Charlotte shook her head and sighed.  
Several owls flew in through the ceiling, dropping letters everywhere. At the Gryffindor table, all eight got a copy of the Daily Prophet as usual. James, Charlotte and Remmy all got extra letters as well.  
“Oh, awesome. A Howler from mum. I’ll just throw this one out…” James tossed the letter to the side.  
Remmy opened her letter. Inside was a picture scribbled in crayon and a letter seemingly written by a grade schooler. “My little brother sent me a letter.” She grinned. “He’s so cute.”   
“That’s so sweet!” Delilah said with a smile. She looked over Remmy’s shoulder to read.  
Charlotte opened her letter. It was from her mother. She smiled as she opened it, but that smile quickly faded.

Charlotte,  
Your father and I have been extremely busy with work. It’s never ending. These times have truly led to some terrible, horrible things...I see more and more every day that I wish I hadn’t. Your father, too, hasn’t come home in a few days. I can only assume he is still working at the Prophet. But I can’t help but worry that somehow he’s been caught into some sort of mess.  
I have begun to worry. Please, send a letter back as soon as you receive this. I love you.  
\--Mum

Charlotte furrowed her eyebrows. “My...dad. Apparently he hasn’t come home in a few days. And my mum…”  
James, Sirius and Remus looked at each other. “Charlotte, didn’t Remmy say your parents were a doctor and a journalist?”  
“Yes, why?” Charlotte looked up, her eyes worried.  
“Charlotte…” Remus began. “Look at the Daily Prophet.”  
Charlotte grabbed the paper, reading the headline. 

New Miracle Drug Flies off of Alchemist’s Shelves  
The drug, known as Conocybis, has cured many different types of curses and ailments.

“Conocybis?” Charlotte wondered.   
“Cono-what?” Taylor grabbed her own copy of the Prophet to read herself. “A miracle drug…”  
“I don’t see how that’s a headline,” Remmy said. “Maybe an advertisement at the corner, but…”  
“Yeah, no editor in their right mind would make this!”  
“Yeah, that’s because the editor wasn’t in their right mind.” James pointed at the author and editor credits. The editor was listed as Robert Verntill--Charlotte’s dad.  
“No way...Are you saying my dad is a dumbass?” Charlotte said.  
“I--no!” James sighed. He leaned in closer. “Listen, there's something going on at the Prophet. Lately, they’re covering less and less of the attacks and war, and more of these strange, outlandish things.”  
“Like they’re being controlled, firsties,” Sirius interjected.  
“Your dad may be one of those editors being controlled,” Remus said. “I don’t want to alarm you, but it definitely sounds plausible.”  
“Thats--That’s insane!” Charlotte said. “My dad is not being controlled. Whatever he’s covering in the Prophet is what’s important.”  
“Charlotte, I don’t know,” Taylor said. “Wouldn’t your mom have mentioned it if there was a miracle cure in the works? She’s a doctor.”  
Charlotte shook her head. “Peter! Do you believe me?”  
“Hmm?” Peter looked up from his copy of the Prophet. “Oh, umm...Well, I don’t know exactly the situation, but I’m sure that both of you are right in some respects.”  
“See! Peter thinks I’m right!” Charlotte said to Sirius.  
“He said that we’re all right, firstie,” Sirius sighed. “That’s probably true. But listen, your dad isn’t doing what he thinks he is right now. For all we know, this supposed miracle cure could be a weapon, or a poison, or something else.”  
“Okay, fine, I’ll bite,” Delilah said. “If the Daily Prophet has been taken over, who would benefit from it, or just selling this cure in general?”  
“I think you know.” Remus looked up from his copy of the Prophet.  
“...No,” Taylor said, shaking her head. “Why would You-Know-Who’s army take over the Daily Prophet? They prefer being more direct, don’t they?”  
“Remus, you think a Death Eater is controlling my father?” Charlotte looked at him in shock.  
“We can’t rule that out,” Remus sighed. “In the meantime, don’t go buying anything you see on here. And don’t say anything explicit about what we talked about in letters. If the Prophet's been intercepted, it’s only a matter of time before the Owl Post is too.” He glanced at Deliliah and Remmy, whose stares seemed to linger a little too long on the ‘miracle drug’. “Head back to the Common Room.”   
Charlotte sighed and stood up, walking out of the Great Hall. Delilah, Taylor, and Remmy followed behind her.  
Delilah shook her head. “It’s like he thinks he’s Prefect or something. He’s fourteen, not Head Boy.”   
“Yeah, way to kill the mood,” Remmy groaned.  
“No shit,” Charlotte said bitterly. “Where’s that damned cat? She’s never here when I want to pet her.”  
“Next thing you know, Remus will be saying that Salem is a part of all this propaganda!” Taylor said, punching Charlotte’s arm.  
“Don’t give him ideas!” Charlotte said. The girls laughed as they walked back to the dorms.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
After a few days, it was still raining and it showed no sign of stopping. All classes in the greenhouses and courtyards were cancelled, which meant most of the students’ time was spent indoors. A gloom fell over the castle, the students became less and less motivated as more newspaper articles came out.   
“Conocybis ‘miracle drug’ cures yet another!”  
“Azkaban prisoner falls ill because of Conocybis, is this drug safe?”  
“Average wizard turned goblin! Conocybis faces backlash.”   
Students trudged back and forth to their classes, seemingly just sitting around during the newly freed periods. It was as if something malicious was affecting Hogwarts residents. Even the teachers seemed to be a bit off.   
Charlotte trailed behind the rest of Dorm 808, beckoning towards Salem. The cat had been following her ever since the rain fell over Scotland. With a meow, Salem was scooped into Charlotte’s arms.   
“And I said- Charlotte, can you not have the cat so close to me?” Delilah asked as the other girl caught up with them. “I’m… allergic.”   
Taylor shook her head. “You’re not. Char- can I call you that?- Char, give her here.” She held the cat against her button-down. “Hey- Salem, stop playing with my tie.”  
“Oh, Charlotte, watch-” Remmy winced as Charlotte walked right into Katie. “-out.”   
“Watch it. Oh, hey, Delilah.” Katie brought her hand down from her head. “You’re still hanging out with these people?”  
Charlotte frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”   
Katie smirked and shook her head, insisting that it was nothing, but Charlotte couldn’t be fooled by the Ravenclaw.   
“Katie, what’s your issue with the people I hang out with?” asked Delilah. “I don’t get it.”   
“I just don’t mix-” she shot a pointed glance at Remmy. “-well with some of them. It’s nothing against you, believe me. I just wish you’d find better people.”   
“They’re my dorm mates.”   
Katie shrugged. “And? You don’t see me all buddy-buddy with my dorm mates.” She was right. Charlotte had only ever seen Katie by herself, never with any people that could have been in her dorm or even her house.   
Delilah frowned. “Well, maybe if we were in the same house, I’d stick around people you like. But since we aren’t, I’ll stay with them.” She gestured to Charlotte, Remmy, and Taylor.   
Katie opened and closed her mouth, much like a fish. With a huff, she turned on her heel and strode away, robes billowing behind her.   
“Why does she even wear the robes?” Taylor snickered. “You don’t even have to wear them with the uniform… She just looks like, uh… What’s that short teacher’s name? Flitwick, she looks like Flitwick with the robes.”   
“Even Flitwick isn’t that ugly,” Remmy laughed.  
“Hey, that’s not very nice,” Delilah said with a frown. “She is my friend still, even if she’s a bit...controlling.”  
“A bit is an understatement, my friend,” Charlotte said, shaking her head. Katie didn’t seem like a friend, more of an obligation. But Delilah seemed to take care of herself, so maybe eventually she would see it.  
“Well, it doesn’t matter. You guys are my friends too, and if she has a problem with it, then…” Delilah paused. “Then she doesn’t have to be around you guys.”  
“It’s unavoidable, since we have a few classes together,” Remmy added, “but I see what you mean. Katie was controlling even when I was her friend in grade school. She must’ve inherited it from somewhere.”  
Delilah glanced back. “I forgot you two were friends.”   
Remmy gave an uneasy smile. “Hah, yeah. Let’s uh, get to class. Wouldn’t want to be late for History of Magic. With the literal ghost as a teacher.” Charlotte looked at Remmy briefly, who looked uncomfortable; she then turned back towards Salem, who was meowing in Taylor’s arms.   
Salem looked right into Charlotte’s eyes. She did that often, and it freaked her out, because she wasn’t sure if it was out of love or hatred. Considering Salem was never seen in the same place twice, it was probably the latter.  
Salem mewled and leaped out of Taylor’s arms, roaming towards Delilah, who immediately backed away.  
As the girls walked into History of Magic, Salem disappeared down the corridor. Charlotte watched her tail round the corner and go out of sight. With a sigh, she went to find her seat.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Charlotte sat in the Gryffindor Common Room by herself studying. The other girls had either gone to the Library, went to catch up on work, or went to eat, but Charlotte took the opportunity for alone time.  
Salem the cat had reappeared, perching herself on the chair next to Charlotte’s. She was grooming herself, occasionally looking up at Charlotte. When the door burst open, Salem ran up the stairs.  
“There she is!” James said happily. “We’ve been looking for you.”  
Charlotte looked up from her work to acknowledge the four boys. “Me? Why?”  
“Well, youngling,” Sirius said, putting his foot on the table, “this castle has been looking awfully gloomy the past few weeks. We’ve decided it’s finally time for some fun!”  
“Fun how?” Charlotte tilted her head. “We can’t do much.”  
“That’s where you’re wrong,” James said with a wink. “See, the four of us are a bit infamous around here. Specifically for mischief of all kinds.”  
“That is not encouraging, but I’ll hear you out.” Charlotte put away her parchment and put her full attention to James and Sirius. Remus and Peter were talking together in the corner, Remus pointing to various parts of a piece of parchment.  
“We are going to paint the entire school...pink.” Sirius waved his hands to add effect.  
“And how’re you going to manage that?”  
“That’s why we have you! And the other three, of course.”  
“Is Remus okay with this? And Peter?”  
“Of course they are! We’ve been doing stuff like this together since day one!”  
“Whatever you say...Where is everyone else?”  
“Oh, we thought you’d know. Any ideas?”  
“Hmm...The Great Hall, maybe. It’s almost dinner anyways.”  
“Alright, we’ll discuss the plan over a nice meal!”  
James and Sirius paraded out the door, practically skipping with excitement. Remus sighed and shook his head, following behind next to Peter. Salem jumped into Charlotte’s arms as Charlotte closed the door behind her.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“I will admit, that does sound kind of hilarious,” Remmy said. “The thought of seeing the Slytherin dorms covered in pink is...awe-inspiring.”  
“Exactly!” James said. “We need this to go over well and we need it done in one night, so you’ll need to stay up late.”  
“I never said I was going to do it!” Remmy groaned. “I’m too tired.”  
“Laaaaame!” Sirius booed. He grabbed a piece of Remmy’s ham and shoved it in his mouth.  
“Hey!” Remmy reached over and tried to smack the fork out of his mouth.  
“I’ll take more if you don’t agree!”  
“Ugh, you bully...Fine, but we better get partial credit.”  
“Of course you will!” James said with a wink. “We have ‘code names’ so to speak, so we’ll just keep you anonymous.”  
“Wait, you said you guys were infamous for these pranks,” Charlotte interjected. “If you remain anonymous, then how do you get credit?”  
“Everyone figured out who we are by second year,” Remus said. “We use the code names because we’ve never directly admitted those were our code names, so most of the time we can get out of punishment.”  
“Hmm…” Delilah thought. “I’m in, but if we’re using actual paint--”  
“Oh, no, no,” Sirius said with a laugh. “Remus found a color-changing spell. It’ll be tedious for us to do, but even more so for the staff to undo it.”  
“We’ll teach it to you tonight,” Remus said, “but if you use it on us, expect payback in the form of real paint, right on your bedsheets.”  
The other boys laughed at this. The girls did too, but Charlotte wasn’t expecting Remus to be so passive aggressive.  
“So, after dinner, boys. And girls,” James said, puffing out his chest. “The Marauders make a come-back. Year Four is going to start for real!”  
The boys, including Peter and Remus, all cheered and grabbed more food.  
Some Gryffindors off to the side started smiling and whispering amongst themselves.  
“Potter,” Said a Gryffindor girl behind James. She had long red hair. “You better not be planning one of those stupid pranks again.”  
“Awww, Evans!” James said with a smile. “I know you like them, you don’t have to act so coy.”  
“They’re a waste of time! You’re smart, you could use that time studying!”  
“It’s not a waste, Evans!” James turned to face the girl, Evans. “Personally, I think you’re wasting your life shoving your nose in a book. You only are here at Hogwarts for a short time, why not live it?”  
“I am. I’m using my time in a valuable way. Instead, here you are, corrupting poor first years!”  
“Excuse me, we haven’t been corrupted yet,” Delilah retorted.   
“Speak for yourself, Delilah,” Taylor said. “Anyways, boys, I’m in. What time are we starting?”  
“Hah! See?” James said, pointing at Delilah and Taylor.  
“You girls are making a mistake, in my opinion,” Evans sighed. “Don’t hang out with the wrong crowd. I’m Lily Evans, by the way, fourth year Gryffindor. You can ask me if you need anything.”  
A voice called from across the room for Lily.  
“Oh, I think Severus needs something. I’m still not done with you, Potter.” Lily Evans walked off towards the Slytherin table.  
“She complains about you hanging with the wrong crowd, and she goes off with Snivillus,” Sirius laughed. He punched James in the arm. “You alright, mate? Staring off?”  
“Maybe at Evans’ face,” Remus said.  
“Hey!” James said, his face flushing.  
Charlotte laughed. “Oh, is this a crush I sense?”  
“Shh!” James said. “Just meet us in the Common Room at 23:30.” James got up and walked back to the common room, Peter following behind.  
“Who’s Snivillus?” Taylor asked.  
“A Slytherin kid,” Sirius said. “Greasy, disgusting, good-for-nothing, definitely has some sort of connection with the dark arts…”   
“What he’s trying to say is that he and James bully him relentlessly,” Remus said. “And I don’t blame them.”   
“He can’t be that bad!” Delilah said.  
Sirius nodded towards the boy talking to Lily. “That’s him. Severus Snape. Real git.”  
Charlotte looked at the boy. He had chin-length, greased black hair, and wore the complete Slytherin uniform with robes. He was lanky and pale, and was nearly the same height as Lily. Their personalities contrasted each other greatly.  
“He looks kind of like you, Sirius,” Charlotte said with a shrug.  
“Excuse me?!” Snape said with a gasp. “To think you would compare me to Snivillus! I am elegant and beautiful, and he is greasy and...Snivillus!”  
“If you say so,” Charlotte shrugged. “But you’re just talking about what he looks like. What about his personality?”  
“Hah!” Remus laughed. “He barely has one. His entire personality is staring at Lily, brooding, using weird magic and making our lives miserable.”  
“That’s more personality traits than Delilah has,” Taylor laughed. Delilah shoved her arm, but laughed along.  
“Trust us, he’s weirder than Peter,” Sirius said.  
“Whatever,” said Remmy with a laugh, then a quick sigh. “I have to go put this book back in the library.”  
“Oh, I’ll come with you!” Delilah said with a smile. “I’ve been wanting a specific book.”  
Delilah and Remmy walked off.  
“Well, I’m stuffed,” Sirius groaned. “Remus! Hold me! I can’t move!”  
“What are you--” Remus barely got a word in before Sirius flopped himself into Remus’s lap. “Hey!” Remus blushed. “Get off!”  
“Never!” Sirius said, going limp in Remus’s hold. “Carry me, Moony!”  
“You are impossible,” Remus sighed, carrying Sirius back to the dorms.  
“Moony...?” Charlotte questioned.  
“That’s the stupidest nickname I’ve ever heard of,” Taylor laughed. “I want to get a nap in before we start...doing whatever we’re doing. You coming?”  
“Yep!” Charlotte shot up and the two walked to the dorms together.  
Salem didn’t follow, but stared at Charlotte as she left the Great Hall. Charlotte turned around to try and get her to follow, but Salem walked straight towards the Slytherin table, and was immediately greeted with pets and praises.  
Charlotte rolled her eyes. That damned cat acts like a stray, she thought. Charlotte turned back around and continued towards the dorms.


	7. Pretty in Pink

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marauders and 808 pull a prank, but the mood is dampened when almost the entire school receives some kind of 'missing persons' letter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, sorry it took a while to update, been busy with school and all that-- if you're just reading, please leave kudos or a comment it really helps us keep writing! thank you!
> 
> -sydney and natalie

Chapter Seven -- Pretty In Pink  
“Now, we’re going to all split up,” James said. “Sadly, none of my sources could get me the password to the Slytherin common room, so we’ll have to stick with the public areas.”  
“Damn!” Sirius stomped his foot.  
“Alright, Remus, you get the Great Hall and the main halls. Delilah and Remmy, you two take the Academic wing. Sirius, you get the Astronomy tower. Charlotte, Taylor, you two get the staircases. Peter and I will help you when we’re done with the rest of the halls.” James gave a thumbs up and everyone went their separate ways.  
“How’re we getting the staircases if they move all the time?” Charlotte wondered.  
“Who knows, but it’s going to be fun!” Taylor sprinted towards the staircases, immediately firing pink all over the stairs.  
Charlotte laughed and joined Taylor in spraying pink all over the place.  
Soon enough, they had completed five sets of staircases, and accidentally turned some of themselves pink.  
“Shit!” Charlotte said. “I think I turned your hair pink...Sorry Taylor…”  
“Oh, really?” Taylor said nonchalantly. “It’s okay, I got it.” She took a deep breath, and her hair turned back to its regular lavender.  
“Woah! You’re a metamorphmagus?!” Charlotte said in awe.  
“Yep!” Taylor said with a wink. “I can’t control it super well, and I can only change my hair when I’m not concentrating super hard.”  
“That’s still so cool!” Charlotte said, jumping up and down.  
“What is? The awesome stairs?” James said, sliding down the railing of the Great Staircase. He slid off the tail end. The seat of his pants was completely pink.   
“James.. Nevermind- Taylor’s a metamorphmagus!” Charlotte said.  
“Oh shit!” James said. “I’ve never seen one in real life before!”  
“Ladies, ladies, one at a time,” Taylor said with a flip of her hair. “There's enough of me for everyone. Let’s focus on the task at hand.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Charlotte, James, and Taylor strode into the Gryffindor common room with pride, aweing at the pink-painted walls of the castle. Remmy was sprawled on the couch, snoring softly, Delilah laying over the arm of it with her legs on Remmy’s stomach. She seemed like she was struggling to stay awake.   
“Hey guys!” She said, bringing her feet down to try and push herself up. “How’d it- ah, sorry, Remmy!” She swung her legs over the side of the couch and leaned over the other girl, who was doubled over in pain.   
“It- hah, the entire castle is pink,” Charlotte said with a laugh as she glanced at Remmy, who was frantically waving her hands at Delilah, who was trying to help Remmy off the couch. “I can’t wait to see how the Great Hall looks tomorrow.”   
Taylor groaned beside her. “What time is it?”  
Sirius checked James’ watch. “1:36.”  
“I’m going to bed.” Taylor started up the stairs, then stopped halfway. “‘S really fun, though. Can we… do it more often?”  
Remus nodded with a grin. “‘Course. We can give you guys codenames tomorrow, if you’d like.”   
“Shit!” James whispered. “I forgot to leave a note. I’ll be back in a second.”  
“Would you rather me do it?” Peter asked. “You aren’t exactly...Subtle.”  
“Yeah, Prongs,” Sirius laughed. “You can write it, and Peter will put it up without making any noise. We don’t want the caretaker catching us.”  
“Honestly, I’m surprised he hasn’t already,” Charlotte said. “How do you do it?”  
“We have his checking patterns memorized,” Sirius shrugged. “It’s easy to remember where he’s going.”  
Charlotte raised an eyebrow before heading up the stairs.   
“G’night,” Delilah said with a yawn. “Remmy, can I borrow one of your sweaters again? It’s so cold…”  
“Why don’t you have your own?” Remmy asked. “But fine...Just take one from the floor.” She hurried upstairs.  
The girls all went to their beds and tried to sleep as much as possible. Charlotte couldn’t sleep. Her thoughts were focused on her parents.  
She looked over at the window and saw Salem fast asleep. Charlotte carefully grabbed Salem and pulled her onto her bed and fell asleep together.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Charlotte awoke to thunder sounding and leaves covering most of the main window in their dorm. It was Saturday, so they didn’t have classes, but students still had to wear uniforms to meals and if they were meeting with teachers. Granted, they didn’t have to wear it if they were simply around the castle or in dorms. The castle was perpetually cold, so you’d often see students shuffling around in sweatpants and sweaters.   
Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Charlotte yawned and stumbled to the wardrobe, almost falling over in her tiredness. Last night had taken a toll on her. Remembering that the castle was painted, she straightened up and quickly dressed into her uniform. She shook the others awake.   
“Come on guys,” Charlotte said, tapping her foot. “Hurry up. Get dressed faster.” She stared at the wardrobe with crossed arms and listened to Remmy shut the bathroom door.  
“Ugh, what?” Delilah groaned. She flopped out of bed. Despite having just woken up, she looked the most put together out of all the girls in the room. She combed her hands through her hair, which completely fixed her appearance.  
“The castle, duh!” Charlotte jumped in excitement. “I can’t wait to see the look on everyone’s faces…”  
“Oh, you’re right!” Taylor said. “Come on, Remmy! Get out of the bathroom!”  
“Oh, fuck off!” Remmy yelled behind closed doors. “I have actual maintenance to do, you can just use your meta-morph-a-shit to change yourself!”  
“I have to piss, dumbass!”  
“Not my problem.”  
“Don’t be surprised if you see a yellow stain on your bedsheets, then.”  
Charlotte sighed and shook her head. “You two are something else.”  
Everyone started getting ready. They wore their uniforms, since they were going to breakfast, and walked down the stairs together.  
A shriek could be heard from outside the common room. Everyone inside was quick to investigate.  
“My painting!” Yelled the Fat Lady, who had woken up to see her entire painting turn various shades of pink. “My painting!”  
The girls looked at each other, as if to say ‘Was that on purpose?’  
Lily Evans walked out of the Common Room with a huff. “Did they really have to do this to her? Or any of the other paintings? What was the—and of course, the rest of the castle is pink too. I shouldn’t be surprised.” Evans walked away, shaking her head.  
“What is her glitch, dude?” Taylor muttered.  
“Oh no!” Sirius gasped, walking out of the common room with the others. “Fat Lady, who did this to you?!”  
“I bet you, Mr. Black, it was those Marauders!” The Fat Lady gasped.  
“They wouldn’t dare!” James said in a shocked voice. All of the other Gryffindors looked at them and stifled laughter.  
“We better get to Breakfast,” Remus said, “and see if any other part of the castle has been affected.”  
“Right you are, Remus!” Sirius wrapped his arm around Remus’s shoulder, and they walked to the Great Hall.  
The girls tried to hide their giddiness as they followed behind the Marauders. They walked into the great hall, seeing that even the chandelier had been turned pink.  
“Potter,” said someone behind them. Charlotte was startled and turned around. It was Severus Snape, the boy that the Marauders disliked. “Don’t you and your goons ever quit?”  
“Aww, Snivillus, it’s all good fun, right?” James said with a coo. “At least I’m not talking to the Dark Lord in the corner of class.”  
“Watch your attitude, Prongs,” Snape retorted. “One day, I’m sure, I’ll—I’ll—“  
“You’ll what, Snape?” Sirius joined in. “We know you don’t have the guts to do anything to us.”  
“Oh, please,” Snape retorted, “I’m sure whatever I do to you, your parents will thank me and welcome me with open arms.”  
“What the fuck did you just say?” Sirius reached for his wand and started walking towards Snape. Remus held him back.  
“Severus!” Lily Evans called. “Are you alright? Have they hurt you?”  
“No, Lily, I’m alright,” Snape replied.  
“Hurt him?!” James yelled. “He insulted my friend, Evans!”  
“You’re getting a taste of your own medicine, Potter,” Lily retorted. She grabbed Snape’s arm and led him to the Slytherin table.  
“What was that about?” Taylor asked.  
“Snivillus thinks it’s funny to poke fun at my familial status,” Sirius replied. “And Reggie was right there, too. Damned kid didn’t even defend me.”  
“Reggie?” Charlotte tilted her head.  
“My little brother, Regulus,” Sirius sighed. “He’s the only one who cares about me in that hell hole.”  
“What exactly do you mean?” Delilah asked, tilting her head.  
“Sirius is a son of the Black family,” Remus explained. “Notorious Slytherins and followers of You-know-who. Sirius got Gryffindor, and that...severed their relationship.”  
“It was never fully attached in the first place,” Sirius said, rolling his eyes. “The youngest Black here I can think of...Uriah Black, one of my cousins. We’ve never spoken. Think he’s in his first year, actually.”  
“Oh, yes,” Delilah said. “I have a class with him. Doesn’t say much. I’ve seen him with...a brother, maybe?”  
“That’s Ezekiel,” Sirius said. “Only a year older. Very ‘punk rock’, which is surprising, considering his parents are total twits.”  
“Can’t judge a book by it’s cover,” Charlotte shrugged.  
“Whatever, let’s just eat,” Sirius sighed.  
All eight of them sat near each other as always and ate their food. Occasionally, they would hear students talk about the ‘comeback of the Marauders,’and the current prank. McGonagall and the caretaker were noticeably missing, turning the castle back to normal. Professor Dumbledore, despite not having his office changed colors, was wearing all pink robes. He seemed nonchalant and unbothered by the new change of scenery.  
Taylor glanced at him, then set her fork down and made a terrible face.   
“What are you-” Delilah broke off as Taylor’s hair turned a bubblegum pink. “Oh! You’re a metamorphmagus.” Taylor nodded, a wide grin plastered across her face, and she picked her fork back up. A few other Gryffindors stared, bewildered, at the group. Remmy seemed to be trying to hide her face by leaning heavily on her hand, while Delilah and Taylor were choosing different colors for Taylor’s hair. Charlotte laughed as she watched them, not paying attention to James and Peter, and Remus and Sirius.   
A chorus of hoots announced it was mail time. Charlotte tilted her head up, only to get hit in the face by a newspaper and a letter. Rubbing her nose with a hiss, she picked both from the floor. She slid the letter under her breakfast plate and opened the newspaper. The others did the same.   
“Weird,” Remmy murmured as she set her own letter aside. Delilah followed suit, tucking a formal-looking envelope into the pocket of her blazer. “Hey Char- Charlotte, look at this. Your dad’s done it.” Remmy pushed the Daily Prophet across the table.   
“Char’s fine,” she said absentmindedly as she took the paper. “Miracle… wait. I already have a paper. Okay, miracle- what the hell?” She looked, astonished, at the paper.   
The headline left her in shock. Remmy, Delilah and Taylor all looked over her shoulder to read it.

Miracle Conocybis Cures Entire Family of Lycanthropy!  
The Johnson family in Winnipeg have been plagued with Lycanthropy throughout generations. After ingesting an elixir made with Conocybis, the family reports that they have had no transformations for the past few months. This is exciting news for lycanthropes across the world. Could this drug possibly mean the eradication of lycanthropy for eternity?  
“No way…” Remmy looked at the paper, astonished. “That’s--”  
“Impossible is what it is,” Remus interjected. “Don’t get any ideas. This cover article is extremely misleading. Look at the second page.”  
Delilah read the page aloud. “Conocybis--Miracle or Fallacy? Conocybis is a new drug introduced by a laboratory in Ireland for use of witches and wizards across the globe. It claims to be able to cure all curses and ailments--most recently being lycanthropy. However, this is an incredibly misleading line, as Conocybis has been responsible for the deaths of 1,247 people since it's trial studies around three months ago. So, is the supposed Miracle Drug worth the risk?” Delilah stopped. “One-thousand, two-hundred, forty-seven people...Just had to make sure I read that number right…”  
“Why is it still on the shelves if it’s killed that many?” Charlotte wondered. “And why would they advertise the cure for lycanthropy if there’s such a large risk?”  
“Exactly,” James said. “Check the authors and editors of both articles.”  
Charlotte grabbed the paper. “Headline article written by Gemma Glassblower and edited by...Robert Verntill. Second page article written and edited by Jasmine O’Hart.” She read the names to herself again. She recognized the other two names: Miss O’Hart was only an intern just a few months ago. Mrs. Glassblower hadn’t written a cover article in seven years… “This doesn’t make any sense. I know all of these people and...They would never…”  
“You’re right,” Remus said. “Like I said the other day, they’re seriously being brainwashed.”   
Charlotte whimpered. “You’re scaring me...I hope my parents are okay.”  
“If it makes you feel better,” Delilah interjected, “it doesn’t seem like everyone is brainwashed. This O’Hart character seems opposed to the Miracle Cure.”  
“We’ll just have to wait for more news…” Charlotte sighed.  
“Greetings,” said a voice behind her. Charlotte turned her head around: it was Professor Elregard, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher that everyone liked. “I see you have looked at today’s Prophet.” Her Russian accent made everything she said sound more serious than it was. “However, you should open your letters. They are official, it seems, from the Ministry of Magic.” Professor Elregard strutted off, her pony-tail bouncing with every step.  
“Official, huh?” James wondered. He tore open the letter, and everyone else followed suit.  
Charlotte looked at her letter suspiciously, and began reading to herself.

To Charlotte Lola Verntill or Guardian,  
We are sorry to inform you that Mr. and Mrs. Verntill are unable to respond to any letters at this time. Currently, due to the upspike in hospital patients due to the Conocybis drug, all nurses, doctors, and hospital personnel are required to stay as a live-in in St. Mungo’s hospital. They are all unable and forbidden to accept outside mail or packages in the fear that they may transmit outside diseases to patients affected by the Conocybis drug. As for Mr. Verntill, we are unsure of his whereabouts. Feel free to send another letter in 2-4 weeks to check back in. We are deeply sorry for any and all inconveniences this information may have caused.   
Missing Persons Sect of Ministry of Magic 

Charlotte stared in disbelief. “They’re… unsure of his whereabouts? What- what does that mean? Since when did the Ministry have a Missing Persons Sect? I-” she started to shake, and James put a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to ground her.   
“Wait--Missing persons?” Remmy took in a shaky breath and immediately tore into her letter. She nervously looked through the entire thing. She breathed a sigh of relief upon reading it. “Okay...my brother is safe. Apparently my older cousin took him in, because my grandparents are...in quarantine? Did they use that drug?”  
The other two girls tore open theirs. Taylor mentioned that her brother’s college has been put under strict regulations due to the sale and illegal distribution of Conocybis. Delilah said that she is not allowed to return to the Orphanage for any breaks due to the influx of children coming in from the loss of their parents due to the Conocybis drug. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter all mentioned something similar, saying that they either weren’t allowed to return home or send letters.  
“Did everyone get one of these?” Charlotte wondered. Looking around, it seemed every single student got a letter just like it.  
“I’m scared,” Delilah whispered. “How did it escalate so quickly?”  
“I...Don’t know,” Remus answered.  
“Attention all Students and Staff,” Yelled a voice. It was Professor Elregard again. “As a Ministry of Magic Employee, I can confirm that the drug known as Conocybis is not safe for consumption. Any and all sale, distribution or creation of it or anything similar will result in possible expulsion from Hogwarts. Please speak with me, Professor Sprout, or Headmaster Dumbledore for more information on this drug.”  
“So, it really isn’t safe…” Remmy sighed. She looked almost disappointed.  
“I’m just concerned as to...Why the Prophet is still advertising it,” Delilah wondered.  
“We can only assume it’s because of the brainwashing,” Sirius said.  
“Suddenly, I’m not so excited about the pink walls anymore,” Charlotte said with an eyebrow raise.  
Looking around the room, everyone’s faces were serious. Most ate in silence. Charlotte looked at the entrance of the Great Hall and saw Salem, who lingered for a moment before walking away.  
“What happens if this keeps going?” Delilah wondered.  
“...We’ll just have to hope it doesn’t.” Remus looked solemnly at his knees.  
The entire Great Hall had turned from a cheerful Saturday morning to a gloomy, worried one.  
Charlotte could only hope her dad was safe and healthy, and that her mother would be able to come home soon. But something told her that that was wishful thinking.


	8. ...It pours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mysterious death occurs at the Daily Prophet, and worried about her parents, Charlotte runs off to the Marauders' dorm where Sirius tells her about his brother. We learn a little about Remmy's brother, and more about Charlotte's backstory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you asked me what happens in this chapter i couldn't tell you. this week has felt like a fever dream. (sydney)  
> natalie wrote the majority of this chapter, feel free to leave her some praise in the comments. also, sorry if the formatting is a bit off? we indent paragraphs on google docs but ao3 removes some of the indents and keeps others so it looks weird when i paste it into the chapter text box. thanks for reading
> 
> -sydney and natalie

The days only seemed to get longer.  
It was still raining, and it had been nearly two weeks since it had started.  
Most of the castle had already begun to neglect their studies, and had been preferring to sleep, or to search the library. Lily Evans, (at least, according to James,) had even begun to see her grades slip.  
Charlotte picked up her next copy of the Daily Prophet that day during breakfast. She was reading the headline, titled Conocybis Cures First Muggle Patient!, but got tired quickly and turned the page. Seeing the next article made her shake with anger and fear.

Daily Prophet Author Jasmine O’Hart Dies Mysteriously  
The former intern and author at the Daily Prophet died last night. The Ministry of Magic is not releasing any evidence of her death, nor the details of how it happened, however the air is split between two causes: Conocybis and Murder. Some believe that the Conocybis that O’Hart disliked is what became her downfall, while others believe the creators of it murdered her to prevent suspicion.

“Oh my god…” Delilah whimpered. “She just...died?!”  
“I...I guess so,” Charlotte whispered. “I...what if…”  
James, Remus, Peter and Sirius were notably absent from the breakfast table. If they were here, Charlotte knew that Remus would try and calm her down. Instead, she was simply afraid. She glanced around at the other girls, who were silent. Taylor had her face buried in her hands, Delilah looked like she was about to cry, and Remmy only stared at her lap in dismay. Charlotte got up and left the dining hall without another word, glaring at Salem as she saw the cat dash around a corner. “Stupid thing,” she muttered. “‘S never around when I need her.” Her flats echoed on the stone floor as she stormed through the hallways to the Gryffindor tower. “Coodinum lepatarus,” Charlotte spat to the Fat Lady, who gave her a worried look before letting her into the Common Room. She stepped over the ledge, hitting her foot and swearing loudly. The rest of the Common Room looked over at her, amused looks on her faces. “Where the hell- they’re probably in their dorm,” said Charlotte. She started up the boys’ dorm staircase. With a sharp rap on their door, she entered without hearing a response.  
“Damn, Verntill,” said Sirius. “Let us get off of each other first.” He pushed Remus, who was doing homework at the end of Sirius’ bed, to the floor with his foot.  
Remus made a strangled nose as he hit the floor. “Asshole,” he hissed, sitting up and brushing himself off. “What do you need, Charlotte?”  
She tossed the newspaper to James and slid down against the now-closed door. “Have a look at this. She just ‘mysteriously died.’” Charlotte pinched the bridge of her nose. “I just don’t get it.”  
Peter looked up. “And where are your other friends?”  
“They’re probably still in the Great Hall,” Charlotte said. “I don’t know if they left after I did. You can go see if you want.” Peter nodded and pushed past Charlotte, who pulled a sour face, to go find the other girls.  
James passed the newspaper to Remus. “Possibly murdered? You don’t think she was trying to stop Cono-whatever from spreading, do you?” He looked concerned, almost scared.  
“Hey kid, is your dad going to be okay?” Sirius sat up on the bed. “This seems kind of worrying.”  
Charlotte sighed and bit her lip. “I- I don’t know. I haven’t gotten any letters since the last one, and I’ve been too afraid to try and send one myself.” She shifted on the floor. “I don’t think it would go through if I did, anyway. I’d just get another letter from the missing persons sect, probably.” Her eyes started to water and she attempted to wipe them with her sleeve.  
“Maybe not,” Remus said. “Charlotte- shit, she’s crying.”  
All three of the fourth-years gathered around her, and James put his arm around her, letting Charlotte lean into him. He grimaced as her tears left a spot on his sweatshirt. Sirius, crouched in front of them, tilted his head slightly.  
“Look, I know what it’s like to be worried about family, and honestly, I can’t tell you whether your mum and dad will be okay or not,” he started.  
“Thanks, great help,” Charlotte grumbled.  
Sirius let out a quick sigh. “Let me finish. I can’t tell you if they’ll be okay, but whatever happens-” Charlotte raised her head slightly. “-and I’m sure it’ll be fine, you can come talk to us whenever you want, okay?”  
Charlotte wiped the tears from her eyes, pulling away from James. “It’s your brother, right?”  
“What?”  
“It’s your brother that you’re worried about right? Even though he goes here, you still worry about him.” Charlotte shifted, sitting up against the door.  
Sirius dropped, sitting on the wooden floor. “Yeah,” he said, looking away towards Remus. The sandy-haired boy nodded, a small smile on his face, barely noticeable. Sirius, with another breath: “Our mom isn’t the best... When me and Reg were younger, she’d yell at us a bunch, stuff like that-- and you know, Remus said earlier that she doesn’t like me anyway, because I’m not in Slytherin” --he rested his head on his hand, which was perfectly manicured-- “she doesn’t have much of a fondness of Reg, either. I don’t know, I’m just scared she’ll try and pull something I guess.” He gestured, again with his hands, which, really, were stunning for someone of his age, to James and Remus. “They know all about my family. I’m not sure if those cousins of mine, Uriah and Ezekiel, I think their names were, know about any of it. I’m sure their parents are much better, although I don’t have high expectations since they’re still Blacks.”  
Charlotte glanced at James and Remus. “Does Peter know?”  
“Of course, he’s one of my mates.”  
She shrugged. “I think he’s weird. But- somehow, that made me feel a little better. I’ll try writing a letter later tonight.” She stood up with a sniff. “Thanks,” Charlotte said, and went to find her other dorm mates, who were presumably trying to get away from Peter.  
She found them, still in the Great Hall, trying to make excuses to go to the library, the dorm, anywhere except the dining hall.  
“Peter, really, we need to go back to our dorm. We have homework. We have to go,” Remmy was saying. She tugged on Delilah, who was clutching Remmy’s arm. “Come on.”  
Meanwhile, Taylor was hiding behind the two taller girls, her usually tough demeanor snuffed out. Charlotte stepped next to Delilah. “Hey Peter,” she said, a forced smile on her face, “sorry, but Professor Mcgonagall wanted us four in her office.” She made a ‘come on’ gesture, and the others followed, leaving Peter standing at the Gryffindor table.  
“Thanks for the save,” Taylor said with a sigh of relief. “He kept saying he’d walk us to our dorm, stay with us until you got back.”  
Delilah nodded. “Does McGonagall actually need us in her office?”  
Charlotte shook her head. “No,” she said. “You guys just looked like you wanted to get out of there. Nobody else in the hall said anything?”  
“Naw,” Remmy said, looking down at the others. “Either they didn’t notice or they’re also scared of Peter.” When she laughed with the others, light glinted on her fang-like teeth, Charlotte noticed. “Hey, you said Char was alright? Were you okay earlier, when you ran out? You looked really upset.”  
Charlotte looked away. “Yeah. I’m just worried about my parents, I guess. I’m going to write a letter and see if I get anything back tonight.”  
“Mhm,” said Remmy. “I’ve got to write to my brother too.”  
“Can you tell us about your brother?” Delilah asked. “I- never had one, so if you could tell us about yours…”  
“Uh, yeah.” All four girls crowded into a small staircase, Remmy leaned heavily on the railing with a sigh. Delilah joined the girl, who looked rather startled, standing unusually close.  
“Well,” Remmy started. Charlotte nodded in anticipation. She had always been an only child, and while it got lonely sometimes, it wasn’t all that bad. Her parents were pretty accommodating, giving her all she wanted and frequently setting up playdates with other children. Charlotte often wondered if they actually wanted her to play with other kids or if they wanted Charlotte off their hands for a couple hours. Once her magic had started to manifest, the playdates had suddenly ended. Even though both of her parents were magic, they seemed worried that something would happen with the Muggle children Charlotte played with. As a result of this, and being sent to a very exclusive private school- only 5-10 in a class -she was pretty much isolated her entire childhood. “His name’s Louis, I don’t know if I told you that already,” Remmy was saying, “and he’s almost 8. His magic is already pretty powerful for that age, but I’m not entirely sure if whoever’s he’s staying with knows that. I dunno, I think it’s just weird that he would suddenly be taken away from my grandparents without any explanation…”  
“Is he as tall as you?” Delilah asked, standing on her tiptoes and raising her hand in the air.  
“...No,” Remmy said with a slight blush. Her eyes cut away from Delilah. “He’s eight-year-old sized.”  
“I bet he’ll be taller than you,” Delilah said, sticking her tongue out.  
“If he is, I’ll forcibly shrink him,” Remmy replied. “Little brothers have to stay little.”  
“I have an older brother,” Taylor groaned. “He’s a twit. Way older than me, he’s nearly twenty-one, I think.”  
“You think?” Charlotte asked.  
“I haven’t seen him in a while!” Taylor defended. “He was at Hogwarts when I was fresh out of the womb!”  
“I can’t believe you forgot his age!” Remmy said with a laugh. Delilah looked away at this and cleared her throat.  
“How about we go to the common room?” Delilah said. “We have a test in Defense Against the Dark Arts, don’t we?”  
“Yeah, but that’s not until later in the wee--” Charlotte stopped suddenly, running into someone.  
“Ah, excuse me,” said Professor Elregard. “I was in a rush. Have a good afternoon, girls.” She walked away, her heels clicking on the stone floors. Charlotte noticed she was carrying a stack of parchment, which was odd, considering Professor Elregard never assigned paperwork…  
“Huh,” Charlotte shrugged. “Sometimes I wonder what she’s up to.”  
“I always wonder,” Taylor laughed. “I mean, she’s in the ministry, right? Who knows what she’s doing?”  
“I guess you’re right,” Charlotte replied, dropping the subject. “Anyways, Delilah, didn’t you want to study?”  
“Yes, actually,” Delilah replied. “If you guys don’t, I’ll be in the library.” Delilah trotted off towards the library, leaving the other three girls behind.  
“Do you want to go get something to eat?” Taylor groaned.  
“Didn’t we just have breakfast?” Remmy said with a raised eyebrow.  
“I am a growing girl, Remmy,” Taylor said. “I need sustenance to survive!”  
“You just don’t want to study, do you?”  
“...Nope.”  
“If you wait an hour or two, I’ll go with you to get food.”  
“Yes!” Taylor sprinted back to their dorm, leaving only Remmy and Charlotte.  
“Are you doing alright?” Remmy asked her.  
“I...don’t really know,” Charlotte sighed. “I don’t think I’ve completely processed this yet. I’ll be taking a nap, wake me up when you guys go eat.”  
“Are you sure?” Remmy asked, furrowing her brow.  
“I’m sure. See you later.” Charlotte headed upstairs, climbing into her bed.  
Salem the cat hopped onto her stomach and curled up, giving Charlotte some heat as she fell asleep.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
What was supposed to be a restful nap turned into a nightmarish dream-session.  
Of course, Charlotte had to dream for the first time in months during the time she was most exhausted. She was in a forest, surrounded by a circle of trees.  
She looked up at the one in front of her. From the highest branch jumped a siamese cat--Salem.  
Hurry, said a voice in her mind.  
“What was that?” She said aloud.  
Me, said the voice.  
“That’s not very helpful.”  
Look. Close.  
“Look close?” Charlotte looked around, then heard a meow. “You?”  
Follow.  
Charlotte slowly stood up and began following Salem further into the wooded area.  
Stop. Wait.  
Charlotte stopped in her tracks. Salem walked off, towards the left. Charlotte heard scratching and clawing noises before seeing Salem walk back into the clearing, holding a field mouse in her mouth.  
Come. Salem began walking again, back towards the left. Charlotte followed slowly, keeping Salem in her direct line of sight.  
Here. Salem had led her to a different clearing with a flower in the middle.  
It was a bright, fluorescent pink, with cascading petals and a blue-ish center. It seemed to call Charlotte. She slowly walked towards it, holding out her hand to touch it.  
Salem hissed, clawing Charlotte’s hand away before dropping the mouse and trading it for the flower, running away.  
“Wait!” Charlotte was about to follow Salem, but her feet felt heavy. She could’ve sworn at the corner of her eye, she saw the dead mouse move.  
Suddenly, something crawled into her gaping mouth, causing Charlotte to cough and choke. It felt soft, and kept moving inside her mouth, gnawing on her tongue. Looking up during her struggle, she saw Salem atop another tree, the flower still in her mouth. The cat turned around, leaving Charlotte.  
Just as she was about to pass out from the lack of air, she woke up in a huff.


	9. No Rest for the Wicked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlotte runs into Professor Elregard, who accidentally leaves her with a book on Conocybis. Charlotte finally sends a letter to her parents, and James and Lilly have a small quarrel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> after chap 9, there's only around 3 chapters left, then we'll move on to remmy's point of view for second year,, thanks for reading!
> 
> -sydney and natalie

Charlotte gasped for air, clawing at her throat, before realizing she wasn’t in the dream anymore. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes as she coughed. Red-faced, she heard the doorknob turn and looked over. Remmy stood in the doorframe, eyes wide. Delilah hung off her arm, and Taylor leaned into the room, hanging onto the door with one hand.   
“You okay?” Remmy asked, concerned. “Do you need to go to the infirmary?” Charlotte shook her head, waving her hand as she kept coughing.  
Delilah frowned. “Don’t be a bunny. You’re having a coughing fit, get up so we can go to the hospital. Rem, pick her up.”  
“What? Why me?”  
“Would you rather have Taylor try, and break all her bones? She’s like, four feet tall. She could be knocked over by a gust of wind.”  
“Hey, that’s not true! I’ll pick her up right now!”   
Charlotte begrudgingly sat up as Taylor attempted to pull her out of bed. “I’m fine,” she said, clearing her throat. “I just need to get some water down at the hall.” Straightening out her uniform, which she had fallen asleep in, she followed the other girls out of the dorm and down the staircase.   
“What’s on the table?” Taylor asked James as they slid onto one of the Gryffindor benches.   
James glanced down, having been taken away from a conversation with the red-haired girl from earlier. She sounded like she was yelling at him about some homework thing, Remus nodding behind her with a stern look on his face. He looked up and waved cheerfully at the younger girls when he saw them.  
“Cow tongue, and sliced… boiled… potatoes,” James said, his face twisting into one of disgust when he noticed the potatoes.   
Charlotte gagged. “I’ll skip lunch,” she said. “You can find me in the library. I have to study for the Defence test, anyway. See you guys.” Walking into the quiet, dusty room, she ran into Professor Elregard.  
“Miss Verntill!” Elregard exclaimed. “Coming to study for my test, are you?”  
Charlotte nodded. “Rather be anywhere except the Great Hall right now. I don’t think I can handle eating cow tongues.” Elregard cocked her head, a questioning look on her face. “Oh, I had this… really weird dream a bit ago. I- well, my cat, see I was following her through some forest, and we saw a mouse hoarding a flower- it was pink, I think. No, not the mouse. The flower was pink. Anyway, the mouse was eating away, and out of nowhere it hops up on me and gets its way down my mouth, trying to get my tongue out or something. I’m sure you understand about the food in the hall, yeah.”   
“That’s very curious,” Elregard said, shoving a pile of books into Charlotte’s arms and pulling a piece of parchment and a self-inking quill from her robes. “You said… pink flower, yes, and it- you say it climbed down your throat? Yes, yes… very curious.” She stashed the parchment in her pocket once again and took the stack from Charlotte, save for one book. “Excuse me. I’m terribly sorry, but I have some urgent business to attend to. Good day.”   
“Wait!” Charlotte said, waving the book. Professor Elregard was already out the door. “I- oh, well.” She looked at the cover. ‘Conocybis: Miracles and Lies’ it read. Charlotte frowned. “Weird,” she murmured, and sat down at one of the large tables in the shadowy corners. Flicking on the kerosine lantern that sat on the wood, she bowed her head under the book and began to read, forgetting her studying. “Came out rather soon for just being discovered.” She checked the publishing date. “Oh, 1302. I guess it just spiked in popularity.”

‘Conocybis is a highly dangerous drug, first found in the form of a pink flower, then ground up and formed into a takeable drug. It has a highly addictive effect on animals and humans alike. This includes human-like creatures, like mermaids, centaurs, and harpies, or humans afflicted with animal-like illnesses, like werewolves, veelas, and vampires. This also includes Animagi. Once ingested, Conocybis finds its way into the bloodstream and affects oxygen levels, eventually killing the victim. It’s known as a miracle drug across the world, and probably will be for decades to come. However, it is only heeded as a miracle because whenever it spikes in popularity, the victims’ brains that have lost oxygen often seem brainwashed. Conocybis has a tendency of being used by powerful people to execute ‘population control’ among the lesser class population. Children, teenagers, and adults afflicted with illnesses like the Maledictus blood curse are more likely to be drawn to this drug, believing it to cure them. Unfortunately, they are only killed by the drug. On centaurs, the effect…’

Charlotte looked away from the book in horror. “So it is deadly,” she whispered. Packing up her things quickly, she sprinted out of the library, ignoring the calls of the librarian. “Professor,” she huffed, “Elregard!” She burst into the classroom. “You- you left your book with me, which I’m sure was an accident and I’m really sorry for prying into it, but I read a bit of it and Conocybis, it says it’s deadly. Everyone at the Prophet, they are brainwashed, but they’ll die soon!” She stopped, clapping a hand over her mouth. “Oh my God, my dad. He- he-” she dropped the book, not hearing it hit the stone floor.   
“Does he work for the Daily Prophet?” Elregard asked, picking up the book. Her gaze snapped back towards her desk, and she went to stand in front of it, closing books behind her back. Charlotte didn’t notice. The floor seemed to sway under her feet. She wandered over to one of the lecture rows and fell into the bench, her eyes blank. Tears fell from her eyes again, rolling down her face like a dam breaking, the water rushing downstream. It felt nice, in a weird sort of way. Like she was crying in front of someone she looked up to, and of course that was extremely embarrassing, but she didn’t care. All Charlotte cared about in that moment was her parents’ wellbeing, she just wanted to know they were okay. Then there was a hand on her shoulder and she looked up to see her professor with a half worried, half bored expression.   
“Ms. Verntill- Charlotte, I mean. I’m absolutely sure your father is fine. I had to go up to the Prophet’s main office tomorrow to inquire about- nevermind, it’s not important. Would you be opposed to me asking about your father when I arrive?” Elregard pushed her long ponytail over her shoulder and stood straighter. “Only if you’d like me to, of course.”  
Charlotte stared up at her, eyes glassy. “Would you really? That’d be amazing, thanks.”   
“Then it’s a deal. I check on your father, you finish studying.” She flashed Charlotte a thin smile. “Go on, join your friends once more. Give the cow tongue a try, it’s not as bad as you think.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in the dorm, Charlotte laid on her bed, her head resting on her hand. A piece of parchment was in front of her, inkwell threatening to spill on the bed sheets. She moved the inkwell. It was rather late at night, and Charlotte was still reeling in embarrassment from crying in front of Professor Elregard. Remmy, Delilah, and Taylor sat around the room, messing with party poppers and sparklers they’d snatched from the store in the Common Room.   
“Hey, should we really be setting these off inside?” Delilah asked as Taylor lit another one up with her wand.   
Taylor shrugged. “We’ve got water spells, haven’t we? It can’t go off too bad. Right, Remmy?” She looked over at the girl, who held two or three rockets in her closed fist, her wand hovering over it.   
Remmy’s eyes flicked up to Taylor, then Delilah. “It’s fine- Ah, heads up!” Charlotte watched as all three of the girls dropped to the floor, covering their heads with their arms. The rockets bounced around the room, eventually flying out the open window. All four girls clambered to hang over the window, watching the rockets soar and land in the Great Lake. They stayed there for a moment, then glanced around at the slightly burned Gryffindor tapestries.   
Delilah snickered, setting off a chorus of laughter among the others. “Hah, that’s… we won’t get in trouble for this, will we?”  
“Not if McGonagall doesn’t find out,” said James.  
“Jesus!” hissed Remmy, jumping. “You can’t just- why are you in our dorm?”   
James shrugged. “Heard poppers going off, figured it was you guys. Charlotte, you good? From earlier I mean.”  
“If ‘good’ means crying in front of my teacher, then yeah.” James held up his hands and Charlotte scoffed. “But yeah, I’m fine, I was just about to finish this letter to my parents.” She looked down at the parchment. “I’ve been more focused on watching them almost kill themselves though. Remmy just sent a handful of rockets around the room and into the lake.”  
“Hey!” said Remmy, who was still chuckling. “You liked it. It was funny, and now the big squid thing has some fun too.” She jerked, startled at the sudden weight on her arm. “Oh, Delilah. Hey.”  
“You guys can call me Dee. 'S what the orphanage called me.”  
“Do we look like an orphanage, Dee?”   
“Guess not, but it seems you’ve decided to pick it up anyway, isn’t that right, Rem?”   
With a sigh: “Yes, I suppose. Strange, Katie used to call me that- Char, you told her that, didn’t you? Yeah, I thought so. We were around four, or five I think, when she started with that. It was weird, since I was always used to being called Remmy, you know. Louis, he’d” --she laughed-- “he’d call me ‘Wemmy’ with the little ‘W’ instead of ‘R’. Now that I think of it…”  
James started to talk over Remmy. “Sounds good. Say, were you guys actually needed in McGonagall's office earlier? Peter was going on and on about how he was being all gentleman-y, offering to walk you back here-”  
“And stay in our dorm with us until Charlotte got back?” Taylor interrupted with raised eyebrows. “Yeah, Dee and Rem got the brunt of it, luckily I was able to hide behind them, being shorter and all. You guys may always make fun of my height, though there’s some perks to it.”  
“You don’t have any height to make fun of,” said Delilah.   
“Excuse me?”  
“Grow some more and get back to us, we’ll make fun of your height then.” Taylor huffed and turned away.   
“...always had French names,” Remmy was saying, still going on. “You know we both have French middle names?”  
James shook his head, a smile beginning to grow on his face. With a whump, he sat down on the bed next to Charlotte, gesturing to the parchment and making a grabbing motion with his hands. “Give it here,” he said. Charlotte gave it to him. His eyes glazed over as he read.   
“Mum and dad, when we were little…” Charlotte didn’t pay attention to what Remmy was saying anymore. Her gaze flicked from the parchment, to James’ scrunched up face, back to the parchment.   
“Do any of you have an owl?” James asked. “Hand me that ribbon over there.” He rolled up the parchment and Charlotte wrote the address on a slip to be attached to the owl.   
“Mm, yeah, yeah. I’ve got one, his name’s Bardot,” said Remmy, finally trailing off from her tangent. “Can they take two letters at a time? Or can they only have one address?”  
“Just one.”  
“That’s fine. I’ll write to Louis later. James, can you come to the owl tower with us?” James wrinkled his nose, then nodded with a sniff. “I know, sorry. It’s gross up there; Filch doesn’t clean.”   
The three of them took the parchments and made their way to the Gryffindor owl tower. Each house had one, through a door in either dorm’s top floor, you could find a ladder leading up to the owl’s tower, rightfully dubbed ‘the Stink House’. Of course, when the stairs-to-slide thing was still in place, some students used this to sneak into the other dorms. However, there was no need now. James took the ladder first, leaning down the hatch at the top and beckoning down. Remmy went next, and lastly Charlotte. She passed the letter up to the other two and made her way up the splintery ladder. It hadn’t been replaced in well over five years, probably not since it was put there in the first place. Taking the letter back from James, she watched as Remmy went over the nameplates of owls. Remmy shook her head.  
“This is going to be embarrassing,” she muttered. Cupping her hand over her mouth --Charlotte caught another look at her unusually sharp teeth-- she made a series of bird calls. Her face went red. “Sorry, my brother got him used to that, so now Bardot only responds to that.”  
“No,” said James with a grin. “That’s super cool. Not that I’m going to tell Remus and Sirius and Peter.”  
“James!”   
“Hey, hey, I won't,” he said when Remmy punched him in the arm. “Merlin, you- augh, you punch hard.” Charlotte saw he had his fingers crossed behind his back and stifled a laugh. Suddenly, a jet-black owl swooped down from the heavens, landing on Remmy’s mess of ginger hair.   
“Bar! Give the letter here, Char. Or you can tie it on if you want.”  
“I’ll try, thanks.” Charlotte motioned for the owl to hop off Remmy’s head and onto the ledge. Carefully, she tied the ribbon onto Bardot’s leg. Bardot took the slip with the address in his beak, and with a muffled hoot, he flew out one of the large windows. Charlotte stared for a moment. “I hope I get a response back,” she murmured. She felt a hand on her shoulder.   
“I’m sure you will.” James ruffled her hair. “It’ll come back, okay? And if not, we’ll find something to do about it. Me and the others will go up to the Ministry ourselves.” Charlotte laughed. Giving her thanks, she left James and Remmy in the owl tower and headed back to the dorms. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Damn you!” Taylor said, slamming her fists onto the table. Sirius had beaten her at Wizard’s Chess for the fifth time in one hour.  
“Haha!” Sirius celebrated. “No one can take my championship! I am the King of Wizard’s Chess!”  
“Are you sure about that?” James said, looking over. “Last time I checked, Moony’s had you beat every time you’ve played.  
“He’s a monster at chess, it doesn’t count,” Sirius said, waving his hand dismissively. “Besides, Remus isn’t here, so as of right now, I am the reigning Wizards Chess Champion!”  
“That stinks, ‘cause here he comes now,” Peter said, nodding towards the door. Remus walked in as if on cue with a stack of books.  
“Christ almighty,” Remmy said, raising her eyebrows. “What’s all that?”  
“Anything and everything I could find on brainwashing,” Remus replied. He set the books down on the coffee table, which made a loud thud.   
“I…” Charlotte began. “I appreciate everything you’re doing for me, but I don’t think we’re going to find anything. If conocybis has been introduced as a ‘new drug’ every few years, there’s probably very few records on it.”  
“You’d be surprised,” Remus said. “I actually found a few reports from several herbologists, several of which mention conocybis and other brainwashing plants.”  
“That doesn’t mean we’ll figure out what’s going on in the ministry,” Delilah said. She had been patching up a pair of Remmy’s pants, which had been ripped during flying lessons. “For all we know, this could be an entirely different thing.”  
“Let’s not look at this too negatively,” James said. “We can’t give up before we even start.”  
“Aww, Potter, are you trying to write your Divination Essay for the month?” Said a voice. Charlotte turned around: it was Lily Evans.  
“Evans, we’re actually talking about something even more important,” James replied. “Please, I know we find it fun to poke at each other, but this is serious.”  
“Whatever you say.” Lily looked around the room, making eye contact with all four girls. “You four are still hanging around these boys? You’re making a mistake.”  
“Actually,” Charlotte began, “‘these boys’ have helped me more in my short time being here than anyone else has in my entire life.”  
“Hey, hey, Char, calm down--” Remmy began, standing up to hold her back.  
“What’s your deal with them anyways? They’ve been so kind to us ever since we arrived here!” Charlotte shoved Remmy’s hand away. “Maybe you should keep your opinions to yourself instead of trying to make decisions for us!”  
“Charlotte, calm down,” James said. “This is a stressful time for you, just--”  
“Yeah, no shit, James!” Charlotte retorted. “I get you’re trying to help me, but holding me back from defending my decisions is NOT it!”  
James bit his lip and stayed silent. Sirius looked at the floor and seemed to doze off. Remus and Peter stayed far away from the situation.  
Lily Evans held a surprised expression. She definitely was not expecting Charlotte to retort like that. “...I’m sorry. I thought that you were all just troublemakers. I guess they really are just trying to help you. I’ll stay out of it.” She began to walk back up towards the dorms.  
“Wait! Evans!” James called.  
She turned around. “What, Potter?”  
“I…” He stopped. “Nevermind.”  
“I won’t bother any of you about this again.” Lily smiled briefly before walking up the stairs.  
Charlotte stayed silent.  
“What’s her deal?” Taylor asked. “Did you guys do something to her?”  
“What?” Sirius said. “I mean...We did tell you about Snivillus.”  
“She doesn’t like you because you bullied her friend,” Delilah said. “That’s perfectly understandable.”   
“We--” James stopped. He couldn’t think of a justification.  
“I’m going to the library,” Charlotte sighed. “Remus, I’m taking some of these books.” Remus nodded as Charlotte took a small stack from the coffee table and walked out of the Common Room.


	10. The Secret Garden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While snooping in Elregard's classroom, some of the group finds what appears to be a secret garden. However, some of the plants have student's names written on them...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's weird because on the google doc the entire story is 110 pages but it looks so short on here LMAO 2 chapters left
> 
> -sydney and natalie

Charlotte walked into the library and sat down at the nearest table. She immediately opened books and began to read, but she couldn’t concentrate. She heard two boys talking in one of the aisles of books.  
She stood up and went to investigate. Upon getting closer, she heard that they were definitely not speaking in English--their speech sounded more like hisses and spitting.  
“Umm, excuse me,” Charlotte began.  
The boys jumped and looked at Charlotte in surprise.  
“I’m sorry, but could you be quieter? I’m trying to study.”  
“Oh, we’re very sorry,” said one of the boys. He had chin-length black hair parted in the middle. Upon further inspection, his face was littered with freckles. He wore Slytherin robes.  
“Sorry about that,” said the other. He had closely-shaved black hair as well. He was much taller, and wore Slytherin robes too. “My brother here should get going anyway. Ciao!”  
The two left the Library. “Strange,” Whispered Charlotte. She went back to studying her books.  
She happened upon one of the reports that Remus had mentioned. Mind Control and Puppeteering--A Thesis. She began to read.  
Mind control can come in many different forms. There are spells, plants, potions, and even creatures with this ability. The most famous of mind-control curses is the Imperius curse, which has been forbidden by law in every magic-practicing community…

Charlotte skimmed the page for any mention of Conocybis. She finally reached the ‘herbs’ section.

There are three known herbs that have mind control and brainwashing abilities. These are called Elifixtris, Conocybis, and the Bat Ear Plant.  
Elifixtris is an herb used to erase memories, typically used by counselors and therapists to help cure PTSD and trauma-related disorders. It has been proven safe by several medical professionals, though memory loss in other areas has proven more likely in patients over the age of fifty.  
The Bat Ear plant is a common leaf found in foliage all over the world. It’s brainwashing techniques are very rare, and only appear in certain patients: specifically, those with blood type O- or O+. Otherwise, the Bat Ear Plant is a safe, edible leaf that provides healing properties to the throat and stomach when ingested in the form of an elixir.  
Conocybis, however, is different from both of these. It is a dangerous, fluorescent flower that is extremely rare, growing naturally in only the purest of springs. The only creatures that have been known to consume it regularly and survive are dragons, who eat the plant while resting. In humans, Conocybis first must be consumed by mouth in the form of a syrup to gain full effect. It starts by clouding memory, attacking short-term memories before latching onto long-term ones. It is commonly used to mislead many patients at different hospitals, as patients with terminal illnesses have taken it and have simply forgotten they were ever sick.

Charlotte stopped reading. The reason why everyone thinks Conocybis is a miracle is because...they forget they ever had a sickness? But if the people themselves are reporting that they were cured, then what does this mean?

Keeping in mind that not all patients lose memories as quickly as others, typically the first few times a patient takes it, they will simply not remember what days they have had symptoms. Slowly, however, they will forget they ever had any at all. As their memory slowly fades, so do other cognitive parts of their brains. Things such as the ability to tell when one is hungry or thirsty, the ability to differentiate danger, and in some cases the ability to breath all disappear. All patients who have drank or consumed the Conocybis in some way have died. Medical professionals have covered up the usage of it by tricking patients into taking the conocybis, while they think it is their medicine. Most hospitals give Conocybis to patients who are ‘beyond repair’ or ‘too far gone.’ The ethics of this has been greatly debated, and some believe that it is equivalent to the death penalty, or the pensieve executions used by the MACUSA in the 1920s--40s. 

Charlotte couldn’t do anything but sit there in shock. What did this mean? Not only for her, but her parents as well? Have her parents already taken the drug? Would they die, too?  
Charlotte felt her chest hurt. She clutched at it, not moving from the position she was in. She felt a presence above her and slowly looked up.  
The second boy from before was standing above her, reading the report.  
“What--What are you doing?” Charlotte asked, finally breaking out of her trance.  
“Excuse me,” The boy said, scratching his head. “Just an odd thing to spend your time on. You look tired and disheveled. Even more so than when you walked over to us. You doing alright?”  
Charlotte wanted to be mad at him for commenting on her appearance, but she kept quiet. “My parents work at St. Mungos and the Prophet. I’m worried.”  
The boy looked at her with an expressionless face. “I’m Ezekiel.”  
“Charlotte Ver-- Wait, what’s your family name?”  
Ezekiel bit his lip. “B...Black.”  
Charlotte raised her eyebrows. She was meeting Sirius’s cousins before he met them himself. “Charlotte Verntill. I appreciate you worrying, but you’re a Black, and I’m friends with your traitorous cousin.”  
“Are you talking about Sirius?!” Ezekiel said, his face inching closer to Charlotte’s. “We actually were talking about him earlier! Cousin Narcissa and Bellatrix told us to stay away from him, but that just makes me curious.”  
“...You want to meet him?” Charlotte wondered. “I mean, I can make that happen for you.”  
“Wait, if you’re friends with Sirius, you must be an upperclassman… What year are you?”  
“Oh, I’m only in first.”  
“Really?! That means I’m the upperclassman here! Awesome!” He straightened his tie. “I’ll get my brother. If you take me to Sirius and let me meet him, I promise, my brother and I will help you with your work!”  
Charlotte tilted her head. She wasn’t asking for anything in return. It wasn’t hard to contact Sirius. But she wasn’t going to say no to other help. “It’s a deal. I’ll be packing up. Meet me on the Grand Staircase.”  
Ezekiel nodded happily and started running out of the Library, knocking over several books. The Librarian gave him a glare, but he ignored it.  
After a few minutes, Ezekiel came in with his brother. His brother was no longer wearing his robes, but was instead just wearing a baggy sweater.  
“Come on, don’t be rude, introduce yourself!” Ezekiel said.  
“Umm…” The brother started. His voice was surprisingly deep, even though he looked about Charlotte’s age. “I’m Uriah...Black. First year.”  
“I’m Charlotte Verntill. Nice to meet you!” Charlotte smiled. The boy obviously needed some kind words, considering how unhappy he seemed. “Well, let’s get to the Fat Lady.”  
Upon reaching the portrait, the Fat Lady scoffed. “Slytherins? In our common room? Ms. Verntill, have you lost your mind?”  
“I owe them a favor. Nocti Vermani.” The portrait flew open at the password. “If either of you repeat that password to anyone, I will knock you halfway to Strasbourg.”  
Ezekiel nodded in understanding. Uriah simply raised his eyebrows.  
“Wait out here for a moment, I’ll make sure Sirius is in here.” Charlotte walked into the Common Room and saw everyone in the same positions they were in.   
“Char!” Taylor said. “What’d’ya find?”  
“I’ll tell you later. Sirius, I met your cousins.” Charlotte set the books down.  
“Which ones?” Sirius made a face.  
“The younger ones, the ones you haven’t met.”  
“Really? What were they like?”  
“You’re about to find out, because they want to see you.”  
“Ugh! I don’t like my family, Verntill!”  
“...They seemed interested in you. They mentioned that your other cousins, Narcissa and Bellatrix, I think, told them to stay away from you.”  
“They were interested in me because of that? Well, I’d like to hear what they have to say.”  
Charlotte opened the Portrait, letting the two boys into the common room. Sirius was laying on the couch, sprawled across Remus, who ignored him.  
“Evening, dearest cousins,” Sirius said in a posh-accent. “Welcome to my humble abode.” Remus took the Daily Prophet off the table and smacked Sirius in the head with it. “OW!”  
Ezekiel and Uriah stayed silent.  
“Well?” Sirius said. “You two wanted to meet me, yeah? Sirius Black, the traitor, in the flesh.”  
“So it really is true,” Uriah said. “You really got sorted into Gryffindor. From the way Cousin Bellatrix talked about you, she made it seem like your parents killed you.”  
“Well, next time I see her, I’ll tell Cousin Bellatrix to kiss my ass!” Sirius smiled a fake smile.  
Charlotte looked between the three boys when there was a moment of silence.  
Uriah walked closer to Sirius. He crouched down in front of the couch.  
“Woah, not so close there, Cuz,” Sirius said with a laugh.  
“You definitely are related to me. You have the same freckles. And the signature hair.”  
“...Yeah,” Sirius nodded.  
“You have a weird air about you.”  
“How so?”  
“You aren’t like our cousins.”  
“Of course I’m not, I got sorted into Gryffindor.”  
“But...Ezekiel has the same air, and cousin Andromeda.”  
“The other one.”  
“Yes.”  
“So you’re Uriah. Alright, got names down.”  
“Do you have a Dragon Heartstring core in your wand?”  
“No, Phoenix Tail Feather.”  
“I knew it!” Uriah’s serious demeanor suddenly turned excited. “Every single Black that I have spoken to has a Dragon Heartstring core in their wand. Except for cousin Andromeda, you, Ezekiel, and me.”  
“And what does that mean?”  
“We’re not like them!” Uriah smiled excitedly. “We--I can trust you!”  
“Trust me with…?”  
“Uri,” Ezekiel finally said, “calm down. Don’t get your hopes up. I’m sorry, Cousin Sirius.”  
“Woah, ‘Cousin Sirius?’” Sirius laughed. “Just because I’m older doesn’t mean you have to be formal. And besides, I like your spirit, kid.”  
Uriah was practically hopping up and down. “How did you do it?”  
“Do what?”  
“Betray your family like that?”  
Charlotte was surprised the boy said that so happily, but Sirius answered perfectly calmly. “Well, I didn’t do it on purpose. The sorting hat technically did. I guess thats what drove me to do other things, but I didn’t have the courage until I came here.”  
“Uriah,” Ezekiel said. “Lay off the guy. You have plenty of time to talk to him, now that Andromeda got Narcissa and Bellatrix off our backs. We have our end of the deal to fulfil, yeah?”  
“Deal?” Sirius wondered.  
“Right,” Charlotte said. “I took them to meet you. In exchange, they said they’d help me with this research.”  
“You sure?” Remus said. “You met them today.”  
“I can tell they’re here to help me.” Charlotte didn’t exactly know why, but she felt almost attracted to those brothers in a way. As if something was supposed to draw them together.  
“Remmy, I’m done with your trousers,” Delilah said, setting the sewing supplies down. “Charlotte, do you mind if I tag along? I’ve nothing better to do.”  
“Thanks Dee,” Remmy replied. “I might tag along too.”  
“So will I, then!” Taylor said, hopping off of the floor.  
“Wonderful!” Charlotte said. “Uriah, Ezekiel, these are my friends. Delilah, Remmy, and Taylor.” The three girls introduced themselves.  
“Great,” Ezekiel said. “Now, since I am a year older than all of you--haha!--I get to tell you all where we’re going.”  
“No,” Remmy said. “We’re going to the Great Hall. It’s nearly dinner, and I’m hungry.”  
“Alright,” Uriah said. “Where should we sit? We can't sit together…”  
“We’ll grab our food and meet in the Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom,” Charlotte suggested. “Professor Elregard is always in the Great Hall monitoring, and she told us we can use her room whenever we like.”  
“Alright,” Taylor said. “To food!”  
Taylor rushed out of the portrait, everyone following close behind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elregard’s classroom was surprisingly dark and messy. You would think that it had never been cleaned. Ezekiel, with a disgusted look on his face, used the sleeve of his discarded robe to wipe a centimeter of dust off one of the lecture tables.  
“I was just in here the other day for class,” he said. “How did so much stuff wind up in here?”   
“She doesn’t spend much time here, I don’t think. Aside from classes,” said Delilah.   
Taylor nodded. “She’s always in the library, the commons, or- where else… Oh, the greenhouses.”   
“Why the greenhouses?” asked James with a frown. They all gathered around one of the lecture tables. The clinking of plates and glasses, which had been held up by a levitating charm and were now being released, filled the air. With an exasperated sigh, Remus brought his glass down.   
“She’s probably in the greenhouse so much to either research Conocybis, or to try and plant it,” he said.   
“Hey, hey,” said Sirius. “You never know if she’s having an affair with Sprouty in there.” His laugh was cut off as he was quickly smacked in the back of the head. He came up with mashed potatoes on his nose and his middle finger raised.   
“First order of business--” Charlotte began before being interrupted by Taylor.  
“Nuh-uh!” Taylor said. “We are not doing anything until we eat!” Taylor shoved spoonfuls of soup into her mouth.  
“I regret doing this,” Charlotte sighed before taking a swig of pumpkin juice.  
After the ten kids had eaten, Charlotte got up. “Now,” Charlotte said, glaring at Taylor who stuck her tongue out, “Let’s search around here. Maybe she has a report going, or something.”  
“I say we split into groups,” Remus said. “Split up our research to get things done more efficiently. Half of us can look through what we have, and the other half can search the rest of the school.”  
“That sounds good to me,” shrugged Taylor. “I want to walk around. Charlotte, you probably should too, since you’ve been cooped up with books all evening anyways.”  
“You’re right,” Charlotte replied. “Sirius and James can come with us, and so can Ezekiel, since he promised to help me.”  
Ezekiel whispered something in Uriah’s ear. He quickly nodded. Ezekiel sighed and patted his back before walking over to the rest.  
“Well, let’s get going!” Taylor smiled. “How about you five go to the library, since we’re going to be snooping around here and making noise?”  
“That sounds good to me,” Remus nodded.  
“I’ll go secure us a table,” Peter said, grabbing a stack of books and walking off. “You guys talk about what you need to do now, and I’ll meet you over there.”  
“Well, how about we meet back outside Gryffindor common room fifteen minutes before curfew?” Delilah suggested. “That gives plenty of time for us to discuss for a bit and decide if we want to continue our research in secret.”  
“I agree,” Charlotte said. “Alright, meet outside the Fat Lady Portrait fifteen minutes before curfew.”  
The four left of the library team left to follow Peter. Uriah tugged on his coat, obviously not liking being apart from his brother. Delilah went up to go talk to him, and the two seemed to be laughing in no time.  
“Alright!” Taylor said, clapping her hands. “Where would a Russian Lady hide incriminating evidence of stashing an illegal drug?”  
“Taylor,” Charlotte said. “Elregard isn’t guilty. She’s trying to help!”  
“We don’t know that for sure,” Sirius said with a shrug. “All of the past Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers have either been fired, quit, or even died as far as I know. After only one year, nonetheless. Elregard has to have something that would carry on that curse.”  
“But why would she help me if she was supporting the use of Conocybis?” Charlotte wondered.  
“Let’s not jump into any accusations,” James said.  
“Yeah,” Ezekiel said. “We should find some clues first, then we can start formulating something.”  
The five began to look around Elregard’s room. James, being the tallest, was looking at the high shelves of books. Sirius was looking through the file cabinets. Taylor was looking through the desk on the main floor, but was only finding junk and confiscated items, which she took back. Ezekiel was in the office up the stairs, and was searching there. Charlotte, not knowing what to do, followed Ezekiel to help him look.  
“Oh, Verntill!” Ezekiel said. “I found a few books on poisons and plants. She must be doing her research.”  
“I know,” Charlotte said. “I started this whole mess when she left a book with me one day on accident.”  
“Maybe…” Ezekiel said, “...It wasn’t on accident.”  
Charlotte never looked at it that way. But considering how kind and understanding Elregard was to the students here, it didn’t seem far off.  
Charlotte walked into the door and heard a loud creak on the floor. “She needs to get that fixed...I think it’s loose too.”  
Charlotte began searching through the wardrobes and cabinets in the office. She opened her fifth drawer (the other four were filled with junk. Charlotte remembered Elregard’s fascination with magical objects), and found what seemed to be a gold mine.  
“Black, come look at this,” Charlotte said.  
“That’s a lot of parchment,” Ezekiel said.  
“Yeah, but it’s all from the Ministry.”  
Ezekiel and Charlotte immediately began sorting through the papers. They were putting them into piles, which was definitely doing Elregard a favor, as they had just been strewn about before.  
“Hey, I know this is important, but…” Charlotte asked.  
“Hmm?” Ezekiel looked up. Charlotte just noticed that he had a vial on a chain wrapped around his neck. It looked almost like blood.  
“Your relationship with your brother is pretty tight.”  
“Hmm...I guess so, why?”  
“I dunno, he just seems...anxious every time you leave each other.”  
“...Well,” Ezekiel took a deep breath. “He’s just an anxious kid, I guess. We’ve stuck together for so long. Last year, my first year, wasn’t great for him either.”  
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.” Judging by Ezekiel’s strange expressions, she had obviously overstepped her bounds.  
“No, it’s okay,” Ezekiel sighed. “It’s just...No one’s ever asked about us before.”  
Charlotte found that extremely sad. She didn’t know what else to say, so she simply stayed quiet. That was, until she opened a file, and something fell out.  
“What is that?” Ezekiel asked, picking it up. It was a large, black key. “I wonder what it goes to?”  
“Let me ask.” Charlotte opened the door. “Did anyone find anything locked by a key? Especially something they couldn’t open with a charm?”  
“No,” James replied. “Everything down here is unlocked. Why, did you find a key?”  
“Yeah,” Charlotte said. “It was in a ministry file.”  
“That’s weird,” Sirius said, furrowing his eyebrows. “Keep looking, but make sure you set the key aside.”  
“Wait, Verntill,” Ezekiel said when Charlotte came back in. “Didn’t you step on a loose floorboard earlier?”  
“I...I did,” Charlotte said. “Are you saying something’s down there?”  
“There’s a possibility,” Ezekiel said.  
Charlotte walked over to the door. She kneeled down, gripping the board. She tried to pry it open to no avail. “Some help would be nice.”  
Ezekiel got up and popped his knuckles. “Let go of it,” he said. Charlotte stepped back. Ezekiel grabbed onto the board and tried prying it up. “It might be nailed down. Can you blast it?”  
“I’ll tear up your hands!” Charlotte protested.  
“I’ll be fine,” he shrugged.  
Charlotte waved her wand, and the nails and board went flying. Ezekiel’s knuckles were scratched, as was his forearm, but he didn’t seem to care.  
Charlotte looked at him worriedly, but was distracted by what was underneath the floorboard: a trap door.  
“What?” Ezekiel said. “That shouldn’t...It should just lead to the classroom. What’s the point?”  
“Let’s open it,” Charlotte said. She checked if it was locked, but surprisingly, it wasn’t. All it did was open to the classroom, Taylor right below them. “This doesn’t make sense.”  
“The key looks like it fits…” Ezekiel said. “Let me try it.”  
Charlotte closed the door and let Ezekiel try the key. The lock was old, but he was able to turn it. Charlotte opened the door again.  
“Merlin…” Charlotte said. Below the trap door was a mesmerizing, magical garden.  
“A secret garden…” Ezekiel said with a smile. “Guys! We found something!”  
The other three came rushing up, looking into the garden.  
“She has a garden?” James said.  
“I don’t think it’s just a garden,” Taylor said. Her hair turned a vibrant shade of blue.  
Without hesitation, Ezekiel climbed down the door into the garden.  
The other four followed after him, Charlotte being the first. Looking around, the garden was way larger than it had appeared in the trap door. It resembled something straight out of a movie.  
“What...is this?” Taylor said.  
“I dunno, but this is amazing!” Ezekiel cheered.  
“I wouldn’t celebrate,” Sirius said. He pointed up: The trap door had disappeared.  
“You’re kidding,” James sighed.  
“There has to be a way out!” Taylor said. “James, come help me look!”  
“Why me?” James groaned.  
“Your height balances out mine,” Taylor shrugged. “Equal teams.” She grabbed James by the wrist and dragged him along, off to find an exit.  
“I don’t want to leave before I find something,” Charlotte said. “This garden is so suspicious. There has to be something here.”  
“I agree,” Sirius said. “But it’s important to look for an exit first.”  
Ezekiel didn’t answer. He was still marveling at how beautiful the garden was.  
“You’re just a big nerd, huh?” Charlotte said. “Taylor! Drag Black along! I don’t want to babysit him!”  
“Which one?!” Taylor shouted.  
“Short one!”  
“That doesn’t narrow it down!”  
“Oh shut up, you’re one to talk! The younger one!”  
“BLACK! You bastard, get your ass over here and help us look!”  
Ezekiel was shaken out of his trance. With a sigh, he followed Taylor and James.  
“Sirius, you have to help me find something,” Charlotte begged. “Please. We’ve gone too far to stop now.”  
“...Fine,” Sirius sighed. “But as soon as an exit is found, we’re leaving whether we have something or not.”  
“Deal.”  
Immediately, the two started searching through the garden. There were many weird creations and plants inside already: talking pumpkins, blue bells that actually rang, flowers with leaves that could grab things…  
Charlotte had tripped several times over roots, and she could’ve sworn she heard a few laughs. She was starting to lose hope when she tripped again, right into a bushel of flowers.  
Charlotte stood up, wiping pink petals off of her clothes.  
“Wait...pink petals.” Charlotte looked down. At her ankles, she saw several thousand Conocybis flowers rapidly growing. Vines weaved around the field. She smelled a sugary sweet scent, as if the flower called to her. Upon closer inspection, she saw small tags on the stems, each labeled with a name. Thomas Keye. Madison Hale. Jackson Harris. Remmy Sedriel. She was so surprised, she fell flat on her butt.  
“Verntill, we found an--” Sirius came over with the rest of the group. “...exit.”  
Charlotte was too shocked to speak. She felt herself being lifted up and vines untangled from her ankles. She couldn’t even think straight anymore.  
Her last coherent thought was simply: Why? She looked over, and could’ve sworn she saw Salem in a tree. She thought maybe, just maybe, that damned cat would finally give her an answer.


	11. Chamomile Tea and Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlotte wakes up in the Hospital wing and has a few lengthy conversations with Salem. After disappearing from the group for hours, Remmy reappears with a box in hands, acting suspiciously. Charlotte and Taylor get their hands on the journal of Salem's old owner, who seemed to have gone insane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW SUICIDE IS MENTIONED IN THIS CHAPTER TW
> 
> one chapter left... we'll take a small break, maybe a week, to get year two going. in the meantime thank you for reading
> 
> -sydney and natalie

Wake up.  
“Wh...what?” Charlotte’s voice was raspy.  
Eyes. Open them.  
Charlotte’s eyes fluttered open. Standing over her was a siamese cat--Salem. “Salem...where are we?”  
Dream. Garden.  
“Dream...garden?” Charlotte sat up and looked around. She was in Elregard’s secret garden. “I’m still here?”  
No. Was. Moved. Back.  
“...I was moved? And then I’m back in the garden?”  
In dream.  
“So I’m only in the garden...In the dream. Where am I in real life?”  
Dream is real life.  
“Huh? Now you’re just confusing me.”  
Dream real. Body in school. Mind in dream. Dream real.  
“So, you’re saying, everything I’m experiencing in this dream is real, but my body is in Hogwarts? Where in Hogwarts is my body?”  
You sick. Help.  
“Am I in the Hospital Wing?”  
Yes.  
“So, I must’ve fainted...and that’s why I’m in the hospital wing.”  
Yes.  
“So, if you’re here in my dreams, don’t you have something to show me?”  
Tell, not show.  
“Oh? What do I need to know?”  
Danger coming. Careful.  
“What kind of danger?”  
Scary. Very.  
“Yes, danger is scary, but what makes this scary specifically?”  
Don’t know.  
“That’s not helpful.”  
Sorry. Not know.  
Charlotte frowned. Salem was obviously trying her best. “I’m scared, Salem. What’s going to happen?”  
Scared too. Don’t know.  
“You always run off when I need you the most. Can you please stay?”  
Can’t. Job to do.  
“A job?”  
Yes.  
“What kind?”  
Can’t say. Important.  
“I suppose I should leave you to it. But can you tell me anything? Even if it’s a theory of what’s happening? Please?”  
Salem walked over to the field. She picked up a petal of the Conocybis. Bad people take bad thing. Not nice. Steal. Hurt. Flower. Flower flower flower flower flower.  
“The flower...Bad people are stealing Conocybis?”  
Don’t know, only think.  
“You think they’re stealing Conocybis...That’s better than nothing.”  
Sorry. Cannot help.  
“You’ve helped plenty. Thank you, Salem.”  
I love Charlotte. Friend.  
Charlotte smiled and stroked the cat’s back. “I love you too.”  
Salem scampered off. Charlotte’s body suddenly felt heavy. She fell into a pile of Conocybis petals. They blanketed her nicely, but slowly kept piling on. She closed her eyes and mouth, not wanting anything there. She felt the air around her get colder, and colder, and colder…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Charlotte woke up with a start. She looked around, breathing heavily. She saw the other nine around her bed.  
“She lives!” Remmy cheered.  
“Not funny!” Delilah said, punching her in the side.  
“Are you okay?” Taylor asked. “You were out of it while we were in the garden, and you fainted as soon as we left.”  
“I...I don’t know,” Charlotte said. “Listen, something bad is going to happen soon. People--I don’t know exactly who--they’re stealing Conocybis. Something tells me they’re going to use it strangely.”  
“What makes you think that?” Uriah asked in his serious voice. He was right next to Charlotte’s bed, closer than her other friends. Charlotte gulped at his sudden speech.  
“I had another dream.”  
“You mean like that weird, prophetic dream you had with your cat,” Taylor said, raising an eyebrow.  
“Exactly!” Charlotte said. “Listen, we were in the garden--”  
“What garden?” Remus said. “You guys have all been talking about some garden for the past few hours.”  
“Hours?” Charlotte looked at the clock. It was Saturday morning.  
“Let’s explain,” James said. “Then you guys can tell us what you found.”  
After the first group explained what they found, the library group told their side of things. It was all information they had already known, just reiterated, as if the same reports had been released several times, keeping the important information out.  
“That’s books for you,” James sighed. “Well, we told you about the garden. Charlotte found that field of Conocybis. She was so shocked and didn’t talk, we had to carry her out, and as soon as we got back to school grounds, she just fainted!”  
“What happened in your dream?” Uriah asked.  
Charlotte explained her dream. She left out the sentimental parts with her cat.  
“And you say you’ve had a dream like that before?” Ezekiel said. “That’s…”  
“Strange.” Uriah said. “Zeke, I nearly forgot...We have to send letters today.”  
“Shit, you’re right, it’s Saturday…” Ezekiel muttered. “Sorry, we have to contact our parents. If you guys get any updates…”  
Uriah and Ezekiel walked out of the hospital wing.  
“Are you doing alright?” Delilah asked. “Why don’t we go get some tea, process this a little?”  
“That sounds great,” Remmy groaned. “Char, you okay to walk?”  
“Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Where are you four going?” Charlotte asked, looking at the Marauders.  
“I need sleep,” Sirius said. “And alcohol, preferably.”  
“You are not bringing fire whiskey into the dorms again. That was a disaster last time,” Remus said.  
“I never said fire whiskey!” Sirius and Remus walked out together.  
“I have big plans,” James said. “I haven’t poked fun at Snivillus in a while.”  
“Don’t bully people,” Taylor said.   
“You are the least fun human I have ever met!”  
“James, don’t we have a group project in potions?” Peter mentioned.  
“Ohh, shit!” James groaned. “Yeah, I guess we do. Let’s go do that, I guess.”  
James and Peter walked out of the hospital wing, discussing their potion.  
“So, tea?” Charlotte asked, hopping out of bed.  
“Yes!” Delilah said. She grabbed Remmy’s hand. “Let’s go!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“--And then Binns said, ‘No, Volpin, the centaurs did not listen to Led Zeppelin or the Rolling Stones.’” Taylor said, eating her fifth biscuit.  
“That joke wasn’t even funny,” Delilah said. “Do you just hate Binns?”  
“Doesn’t everyone?” Taylor replied.  
“Yeah,” Remmy replied. The entire group laughed.  
“Greetings, Gryffindors and Dee,” said a voice behind Charlotte. Turning around, she saw Katie Ashthorn.  
“Oh, Katie!” Delilah said. “We were having some tea. Do you want to joi--”  
“I’m alright,” Katie said, glaring at Remmy. “Actually, I wanted to ask you a question.”  
“Who?” Delilah asked.  
“The general population,” Katie replied. “We haven’t spoken in a while, I do want to catch up. But besides that, I wanted to know…”  
“Go on,” Delilah said.  
“You lot have been looking into this Conocybis business, right?”  
No one spoke.  
“Oh, bloody,” Katie sighed. “I know you are. It’s obvious. But besides that, I need to let you know that you need to stay out of it.”  
“Who are you to tell us that?” Charlotte asked.  
“I’m just warning you,” Katie said. “You’re messing with stuff you don’t understand.”  
“What, like you understand better,” Remmy scoffed.  
“I never said I did,” Katie said. “I’ve looked into this too. Nothing can fix this except for the authorities.”  
“Haven’t you considered that the authorities have already been targeted?” Charlotte said. “There’s something seriously wrong. I thought you would understand. You’re smart, aren’t you?”  
“Just because she’s in Ravenclaw doesn’t mean she’s smart,” Taylor joked.  
“Hey!” Delilah said. “Everyone stop. This is a serious matter.”  
“I can’t believe you’re on board with them,” Katie scoffed. “I’ll be in the Ravenclaw common room. Come catch up with me today at some point.” Katie walked off without another word.   
Delilah turned to look at Remmy with a frown. “What’s going on between you two? She always looks so sour when she’s around you. It’s weird.” Remmy was already walking away. Charlotte glanced at Delilah and shrugged, shaking her head.   
Taylor nudged Charlotte, sliding her hand into her pocket. “Here,” she said. “I managed to get this.” She handed Charlotte a pink flower, slightly crushed but mostly in good condition.   
“When-? I didn’t see you pick it up, this is great!”  
“I think I got it after you kicked,” Taylor laughed.   
Charlotte took the flower in her hands. “Hey Dee, you’ve got jars back at the dorm, right? For flowers?” She held her arms out, showing Delilah the Conocybis plant. Delilah nodded and beckoned for the others to follow, a disinterested look on her face. Charlotte and Taylor exchanged a glance, then followed.   
They placed the flower in a short vase and set it on the windowsill. Delilah had left in a huff when Katie was brought up. “I’m going to the Ravenclaw dorms,” she had said. Remmy was also nowhere to be found. After she had left them in the hallway and avoided the Katie question, she’d disappeared around the corner.   
Taylor and Charlotte sat on their beds, not saying anything.  
“We’re alone,” Taylor sighed.  
“No shit, Sherlock,” Charlotte said with a laugh. “What are we going to do with that flower?”  
“I haven’t a clue,” Taylor said.  
“Do you happen to know any herbology junkies?”  
“Actually, funny you should ask that…” Taylor went digging through a pile of parchment. “I was planning on sending a letter to my brother. He’s an Herbologist.”  
“That’s...scarily convenient,” Charlotte replied.  
“Our lives here have been pretty easy,” Taylor shrugged. “I’ll include something about Conocybis. Maybe he’s trying to research it. Dunno if he’ll get it, considering…” Taylor waved her hand, as if to say everything.  
Charlotte watched as Taylor wrote the letter. Her handwriting was scratchy, and she didn’t dip her quill in ink as often as Charlotte did. Taylor always wrote big when doing school papers (simply to fill the page count), but in this letter, she wrote quite small and compact, as if she was trying to fit everything in one page.  
Charlotte looked at the Conocybis plant, admiring its pretty petals. That is, until Salem hopped right in front of it.  
No.  
She wasn’t sure she heard that right. “I’m sorry?”  
“Huh? Did you say something?” Taylor asked.  
Stop looking.  
“Wait…” Charlotte stuck her face closer to Salem’s.  
Stop.  
“Tay,” Charlotte said offhandedly, “is it normal to hear your cat talk when you’re awake if you’ve only heard her talk in your dreams?”  
“Huh?” Taylor said. “Are you still loopy?”  
“No!” Charlotte retorted. “Salem is talking to me! You can’t hear it, because she’s talking in my head--”  
“Yep, you’re still loopy,” Taylor sighed. “I’m going to the owlery, and when I get back, you better be asleep.”  
Taylor left for the owl tower, which left Salem the talking cat alone with Charlotte.  
Get it out! This was followed by an urgent meow.  
“Get what out?”  
No flower! No no no!  
“You want me to get rid of the Conocybis?” Charlotte asked. “But we’re so close to figuring this out!”  
Away! Away! No no no!  
“Sorry, Salem, but I can’t just get rid of it. There’s something important about that flower...Not to mention...If I remember correctly, Rem’s name was on one of them.” She remembered one of the tags on the stems: Remmy Sedriel.   
I take!  
“What?”  
Taking this as a queue, Salem grabbed the Conocybis flower in her mouth and ran out the door.  
“Salem! Get back here!”  
Run!  
As Charlotte chased the cat around the tower, she heard murmurs around her: ‘Catch that cat!’ ‘Who’s cat is that?’ ‘Someone’s lost their herbology project.’  
“Woah!” said Taylor when Charlotte ran past. “I was gone for five minutes, what happened?”  
“Catch her! She has the--the thing!” Charlotte desperately chased Salem.  
“Who has wh--” Salem ran past. “Damned cat!”  
No! Will not let!  
“Let me what?!” Charlotte said.  
Will not let die! Will not get taken!  
“Die? Taken? But if I don’t eat it--”  
WILL NOT LET YOU!  
Salem ran out of the portrait hole as soon as it was open to her.  
“Oh, someone’s lost their cat,” Sirius said with a laugh as he walked in. “Oh, hey Char, hey Tay--Why’re you out of breath?”  
“HELP US!” Charlotte said. She chased Salem out of the portrait hole.  
The three chased the cat all around the school until they had her cornered in the Great Hall.  
“Salem...Please, just give it back,” Charlotte said in between breaths.  
No! No no no no no! Can’t!  
“Why!? You always tell me you can’t, you won’t, but you never tell me why!”  
…Cannot go.  
“Cannot go where?”  
Cannot leave home.  
“Home? Are you talking about me or you?”  
Master.  
“Master? Who’s master? What’s home?”  
Master never came home.  
Charlotte recalled the story of how she adopted Salem. The poor cat’s previous owner had mysteriously died. The master that never came home.  
Master had flower.  
“Your master...they studied Conocybis.”  
Yes. Bad things.  
“You know what your old master did, don’t you? You don’t want me to leave you.”  
Master left. Only flower.  
“Your old master left you, and left behind his studies...and he died? It doesn’t make sense.”  
Ate flower.  
“He...ate it? You mean he fell victim to what he was studying?”  
Yes. Drank tea. Lied to me. Died. Left me.  
“Your master studied Conocybis...and even though he knew what would happen to him, he drank a tea made from it, lied to you that he didn’t, and he died because of that?”  
All yes.  
“But...The store told me your old master was in a war.”  
They lie.  
“I’ll trust you. But you have to help me. I promise, I will never, ever, ever drink that. I promise.”  
True?  
“Yes, that’s the truth.”  
Happy.  
Salem dropped the flower and scampered off back towards the tower.  
Charlotte went to go follow, and realized Taylor and Sirius had been staring the entire time.  
“You just had an entire conversation with a cat,” Sirius said.  
“I’ve done it before!” Charlotte said.  
“That’s extremely concerning!” Taylor retorted.  
“Well, it was in my dreams...She talks to me, in my head. She’s helping us. Her old master studied the Conocybis, but even though he knew exactly what would happen to him, he drank it anyway. Maybe Salem can tell us what he found out.”  
“Well…” Sirius considered. “I’ve seen crazier things. I’ll go along with it, but the second I see any sign of you going loopy, it’s straight to Mungo’s.”  
“Deal,” Charlotte said. “Now, I need some sleep…”  
The three walked back to the Gryffindor common room with a sigh. Charlotte tried thinking about where Remmy could’ve run off to. Before she could reason with herself, she fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So, you’ve been having Lucid dreams...of your talking cat,” Remus repeated.  
“Yes, for the sixth time!” Charlotte groaned. “This is important information!”  
“Fine,” Remus sighed. “So, you’ve filled us in. What’s our course of action?”  
“He’s right,” Delilah said. She had gotten back from the Ravenclaw Common room an hour before. “We know what’s going on, but we have no way of solving it. We’re just kids, we can’t get rid of an entire flower.”  
“We can’t,” Sirius said. He looked at James.  
“But Dumbledore can,” James said.  
“The Headmaster will nev--” Delilah began.  
“No, no, he’s right,” Remus said, standing up. “Dumbledore has crazy power, in magic and over the Ministry. If we can convince the staff that the Ministry, the post and the Hospital are corrupted, then Dumbledore can--”  
“You’re putting too much faith in him,” Taylor said. “We can’t trust anyone. That includes Dumbledore.”  
“Listen, it’s a long shot, but we have to try,” James said. “Let’s wait a few days. We’ll convince you.”  
The boys got up and left. Remmy was still noticeably missing from the group. She had been for hours.  
“Where is Remmy?” Taylor wondered.  
“Oh, speak of the devil!” Delilah said as the portrait hole opened. “Remmy, what have you--”  
“It’s nothing,” Remmy said with an unsettling smile. She held a small box in her hands. “I’m awfully tired. I’m going to bed.” She went upstairs without another word.  
“Hmm,” Delilah said with a frown. “I’ll go up with her.”  
Delilah followed Remmy up the stairs, which left Taylor and Charlotte alone again.  
“Tea?” Taylor asked.  
“Sure,” Charlotte said with a shrug. “Let’s go to the library. I want to make sure there’s nothing we missed.”  
The two walked to the Library. They saw Uriah and Ezekiel walk out, and they were about to say hi to them, but they walked past completely ignoring the girls.  
“Rude,” muttered Charlotte.  
They sat at a table in the back.  
“Still researching that damned plant, are we?” said a voice. Katie Ashthorn.  
“Ugh, lay off!” Taylor said. “Let us breath for two minutes at least!”  
“Fine, fine, I won’t bother. But just so you know, Verntill, that damned cat was in there earlier. Gave me this book.” Katie set it down on the table. It looked like an old-fashioned journal.  
“Oh,” Charlotte said. “Thanks.”  
“Whatever,” Katie mumbled, “and keep that thing on a leash.”  
Charlotte rolled her eyes as Katie left. Taylor and Charlotte opened the book.

Property of Julian Octavian Pennyman II  
Dated October 1759 - June 1761   
October 7th, 1759  
My research has been going well in the past months. The pink and blue colors of the flower seem to seep together when making a tea or syrup, creating a purplish color. I believe this mysterious flower could be a very interesting dye.  
Planting said flowers have not gone as well. Reproduction rates of it are extremely slow, which was to be expected, but so slow that I am beginning to believe it simply cannot reproduce. It’s seeds are small and ball shaped, so I am wondering if it is actually a root instead of a flower.

November 1st, 1759  
Alas! The plant has grown. It has become apparent that it’s bioluminescence is actually key to its survival, so keeping it in a dark place seems to be the best course of action. I am extremely excited, as now that it’s living conditions have been improved, it has begun to reproduce. Over the course of the next few days, I plan on cutting it’s stems, to see it’s repair rates. I also wish to see how well it mixes with other plants. I am curious to see next spring if it produces a fruit. That is, if it survives the winter.

November 14th, 1759  
The salary men came by again today and interrupted my studies. It does not matter. They demand more money, but of course, I can’t produce any. My wife still hasn’t returned from her long trip, which she had left for nearly three months ago. I grow worried for her safety.

November 16th, 1759  
Huzzah! The plant produced fully grown hybrids with an aloe vera. I am unsure how its gel could be used, but I will be testing that soon. More importantly, I found that the plant seems to not care about bugs, as they seem to avoid it entirely. Quite intriguing.

November 30th, 1759  
I have not put an entry in this diary for a long time. I am mourning the death of my wife, whom I expected to return from Brazil with good news, but instead came in a casket. I will be devoting my time to my studies.

December 25th, 1759  
I have grown depressed. I could not pay the men and neglected my studies. But as a sort of miracle, on this Christmas Day, a mysterious cat appeared at my doorstep. She seems interested in the flowers. I wonder if the Lord is giving me signs.

January 1st, 1760  
A new decade arrives! I shall complete my research, for the sake of science!

January 20th, 1760  
The cat seems attached to me, and the flower. I have named her Conona, the name my wife wished to name a daughter if we had one. She is very interested in my studies, specifically my quills. She has spilled ink on a plan, though I do not blame her, as it was very messy.

February 13th, 1760  
I have been too distracted with research to enter in my journals. I am extremely excited to share that I have named the flower Conocybis, after Conona. Conona does not know this, of course, she is a cat.

March 1st, 1760  
I made the flower into a paste. It was very liquidy.

March 14th, 1760  
All of my other plants in my lab have wilted away. It started with the ones closest to the Conocybis. This concerns me, but also intrigues me. I have moved my other plants to a make-shift greenhouse.

March 30th, 1760  
I haven’t slept in a few days, because I found that the Conocybis is not ever pollinated. Considering it is a flower, this is especially strange. I have tried to do this artificially, but it seems the flower outright refuses it.

May 7th, 1760  
I took the month off from my studies, as I went to teach a class at the Wizarding School in Ireland. The children were very intrigued by my work, which is what prompted me to leave them and continue it.

May 18th, 1760  
I haven’t been able to find any more information on the Conocybis based on my research. However, what’s most intriguing is that Conona has shown up in my dreams recently.

May 19th, 1760  
The cat talked! She talked to me, my dear Conona! She spoke!

June ?? 1760  
I forgot what day it was, I have been so obsessed with this kitten!

Several of the next pages had been ripped out or destroyed.

May 1761  
It looks so good

May 1761  
So good so good so good so good so good

June 1st, 1761  
I made tea! It was so good. Yumm.

June 5 9234849387483????  
Goodbye coNonA s dbhjsk  
Sndfkehw

Charlotte froze. She looked at the other pages, but they were blank. Suddenly, something clicked in her mind.  
“Taylor,” she began, “in this journal, the man has a cat. Who talks to him.”  
“That’s--” Taylor froze. “You don’t think--”  
Found you!  
Charlotte turned around. “Salem, why did you bring this to me?”  
Master wrote this.  
“Master...so this Pennyman character, he was your master?”  
Yes! I love master.  
“But here, it says your name is Conona. Why didn’t you tell me?”  
Don’t like it. Flower has same name. Flower killed master.  
“That makes sense. You don’t like your name because Conocybis was named after you. So, the Conocybis killed your master, right? What’s this about tea?”  
Master loves tea. Made some. Left to garden. Not come back.  
“So he made some tea, left...And didn’t come back?”  
“Char,” Taylor interjected, “I’m getting pieces of the conversation...In our research, Conocybis is most potent in teas and syrups, right?”  
“He...killed himself,” Charlotte whispered.  
I miss master.  
“I know you do,” Charlotte said sadly. “Salem, do you know why you can talk?”  
“I think most importantly, we should figure out how a common house cat lived for hundreds of years,” Taylor said.  
Am not cat.  
“You’re...not a cat?” Charlotte said.  
Don’t think.  
“You don’t think you’re a cat? What does that mean?”  
Don’t know. Am not cat. Am friend.  
“A friend? Yes, I suppose you are.”  
“We could ask the care of magical creatures professor,” Taylor suggested.  
“Maybe…” Charlotte replied.  
Love you!  
“I love you too.”  
Have to leave. Find more.  
“You’re finding more, or you want us to find more?”  
Yes.  
“...Okay.”  
Salem walked off with the journal.  
“This made things so much more complicated…” Taylor groaned.  
“Tell me about it…” Charlotte sighed. “I’m tired...I need a power nap here.”  
“Alright,” Taylor said. “I’m going to tell the others about the journal. If I can find them.”  
“G’night…” Charlotte slowly drifted to sleep.


	12. Fool Me Twice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlotte gets wind that Remmy is being manipulated into drinking Conocybis tea by Elregard. The other girls make to stop Elregard, who is quickly apprehended and fired by staff. This chapter wraps up first year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> last chapter of year 1, this chap moved a little quick but its fine, thanks so much to all who read, next time you're on ao3 check to see year 2. natalie says she might write some snippets for Christmas, etc. thank you again!
> 
> -sydney and natalie

Up! UP! UP!  
Charlotte’s eyes fluttered open. She was back in the Secret Garden, Salem standing over her. Another dream.  
Danger! Help! Help!  
“What’s wrong?”  
Friend in trouble!  
“Friend? Which friend?”  
Big! Big friend! Has box!  
“Remmy? Is this about the box she was carrying?”  
Box has danger!  
“The box is dangerous?”  
Inside!  
“What’s inside the box?”  
FLOWER! FLOWER INSIDE!  
“Conocybis?!”  
FLOWER INSIDE! EATING!  
“Rem--She wouldn’t!”  
HURRY! Follow!  
Charlotte stood up and frantically followed Salem. The garden slowly shifted to the halls of Hogwarts, right outside Professor Elregard’s room.  
“Good evening, Professor,” Remmy said, walking in with the box.  
“Evening, Remmy,” replied Elregard. She was using first names, which she never did. “I think you know why I brought you here.”  
Remmy opened the box. Inside was a Conocybis flower.  
Charlotte tried to scream, but her voice was silent.  
“I know how hard you have it, Remmy,” Elregard replied. “It’s for the best. You’ve seen the statistics.”  
“Yes, Professor…”  
“Your friends, they’re misleading you, trying to make you do things you shouldn’t.”  
“Yes, Professor…”  
“Let me make you some tea.”  
Remmy slowly handed the Professor the box.  
“Perfect.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“...lotte...Charlotte. CHARLOTTE!”  
Charlotte jumped awake. “Taylor!”  
“Sorry, had to wake you u--”  
“Remmy is going to drink it!”  
“What? Drink what?”  
“THE FLOWER! Elregard is making her drink the flower!”  
Taylor didn’t need another word. The two ran down the hall. They saw another figure, Delilah.  
“Guys, where are you--” Delilah asked.  
“Rem is going to drink the flower!” Taylor yelled.  
“What?!” Delilah sprinted after them.  
They reached Elregard’s door. They tried prying it open, but it was locked.  
“Move!” Charlotte yelled. “Bombarda!” the door exploded, allowing the two to enter.  
Remmy was slumped over a chair, unconscious. There was an unfinished cup of tea on the desk.  
Elregard walked out of her office into the classroom.  
“You!” Charlotte yelled. “How dare you touch her!”  
“Relax,” Elregard said with a smile. “She hasn’t drank it. Yet. I simply put her to sleep so it would...Go down easier.”  
“You’re a monster!” Delilah yelled.  
“No, girls. You’re the monsters. You’re so absorbed in yourselves that you barely noticed your poor friend was suffering. Suffering enough to drink tea that could end her life.”  
“You knew,” Taylor said, her mean demeanor turning calm. It was scary, seeing her so calm. “You knew, and you let her.”  
“Of course I did,” Elregard said. “I was the one who introduced it to the first few testers, after all.”  
“This all started...because of you?” Charlotte was in shock. “My parents could be dead...because of you? I looked up to you!”  
“Pity.” Elregard raised her wand. “I can’t let you tell anyone else. Ava--”  
“Expelliarmus!” yelled a voice behind them. Professor McGonagall. “Girls, get behind me! I’ll grab Ms. Sedriel!”  
“Professor!” Delilah said in relief. “How did you--” A meow behind them told them all they needed to know.  
Thank you, Salem, Charlotte thought to herself.  
Safe! Salem said happily.  
Yep, safe.  
“Damn you!” Elregard yelled, staggering towards Remmy.  
McGongall shoved Elregard into the closet and tied her up with a wave of her wand. “I am disappointed, Elregard.”  
“You’ll all remember this day, I swear it!” Elregard used her teeth to pull back her sleeve--a tattoo of a snake coming out of a skull. The Dark Mark. “He’ll reward me when I free myself from you fools!”  
McGonagall was ignoring Elregard entirely. She picked up Remmy, who was still unconscious.  
Several other Professors came running in, the Headmaster included. Dumbledore walked inside and had a ‘conversation’ with Elregard. The girls were dragged away from the scene, to the Hospital wing. Looking back, she saw the Professor she once admired being taken away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next few days were...taxing. Many questions were asked of the girls, especially Remmy. But over the course of the next few months, everything seemed back to normal.  
Dumbledore temporarily took over Defense Against the Dark Arts, which was now everyone’s favorite class, as he always seemed to mess something up or ‘forget’ about homework.  
When word got out to the rest of the world, things started returning to normal. The post was no longer occupied by Death-Eaters, as aurors took care of it. The Hospital had to put down everyone affected by Conocybis, but there were no more patients coming in because of it. Conocybis was banned all over the world, and most crops of it were destroyed, except for one patch that was in a museum in Scotland.  
Charlotte began getting an influx of letters from her parents, some that were supposed to have been sent months ago. She happily wrote back.  
Everyone got word that their family members were safe. The castle celebrated Christmas, birthdays, everything as if nothing happened. Yet so much did.  
It was now May--only a few days before school would end.  
“Wow!” Delilah said with a sigh. “I can hardly believe we’re all going home.”  
“You can say that again,” James laughed.  
“I’m going to miss you guys,” Charlotte sighed.  
“I’ll miss all of you too,” Delilah said with a smile.  
“I don’t know what I’d do without you!” Taylor groaned.  
“Same!” Remmy sighed. “Things are going to be so much different from now on.”  
“You never get used to it,” Sirius said. He was gazing out the window. Remus, more recently, had begun keeping his glances lingering on Sirius for a little too long.  
“I don’t want to leave,” Peter sighed, “that never changes.”  
“Agreed,” Sirius groaned, flopping onto his bed. “I hate it there.”  
“You know, Sirius,” James said, “my offer still stands. You can stay with me. My mum won’t mind at all. And I’m sure your family won’t, either.”  
“You’re serious?!” Sirius said. “Well, no, that’s me, but--YES! I accept!”  
“Awesome!” James said. “It’s going to be a great summer!”  
“You just arbitrarily decided to stay together?!” Delilah said. “That’s crazy!”  
“Meh,” Sirius shrugged. “Anything to get away from that old bat of a woman I call a mother.”  
“You aren’t very nice to her,” Delilah pointed out.  
“Yeah, well she isn’t very nice to me either, is she?” Sirius said. “If I ever go back they’ll probably tear down all of my stuff, if they haven’t already.”  
“So you’re saying they won’t miss you?” Charlotte wondered. “That’s sad.”  
“That’s just how it is,” Sirius replied. “And I like it like that!”  
“If you say so,” Charlotte sighed.  
“What about the rest of you?” Sirius asked. “Any plans?”  
“Not particularly,” Delilah sighed. “Back at the Orphanage for me. Oh, and I’ll be sneaking out with Katie, of course!”  
“I’ll be helping out my parents with their work,” Charlotte said. “I enjoy helping where I can.”  
“That’s admirable,” Taylor said. “I’m spending my time at my grandmother’s. My parents are squibs, but my grandmother isn’t, so she’ll be taking care of me and keeping me out of trouble. My parents are going with me, but they aren’t as fun.”  
“I’m just staying home,” Remmy shrugged. “Nothing to do.”  
“Agreed,” Remus said with a laugh. “I need some calm after what happened this year.”  
“Exactly,” Peter said. “I also have a job at a Muggle Library. I quite enjoy it there.”  
“What use do you have for muggle money?” James wondered.  
“I don’t,” Peter said, “but it’s still fun. Also, I think my manager is a witch. She dresses like McGonagall.” At this, the rest of the group laughed.  
“Well, we’ll see each other next year,” Charlotte smiled. “Maybe even in better circumstances.”  
“Let’s not cross our fingers,” Remus laughed. “We go to Hogwarts.”  
“Hah!” James said, “If trouble won’t come find us, we’re sure to make it. Right boys?” The marauders cheered, scaring the rest of the common room.

“Let’s not purposefully make trouble,” Delilah said. “Unless, of course, it’s necessary.”  
“It’s always necessary!” Sirius laughed.  
They stayed silent for a while.  
“I’m going to miss all of you,” Charlotte said.  
“Me too,” Delilah sighed. Everyone agreed.  
“We’ll all see each other again!” Sirius said. “Don’t be so mopey! Come on!”  
“You’re right,” Charlotte said. The rest of the night, the eight laughed and talked about their adventures. Who knows what next year will have in store for them? Charlotte smiled.


	13. Bonus Chap1 - Merry Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> just some bonus chapters while we don't write year two

Christmas Eve came fast. Charlotte felt the year would be over before she knew it.  
“To Hogsmeade!” Sirius yelled. “Woo!”  
“Hogsmeade?” Charlotte asked.  
“The town near here,” Remus said. “Only third years and up can go. We’ll probably be there all night, the taverns are always packed during the winter!”  
The boys left for Hogsmeade, leaving the girls alone in the empty common room.  
“I’m happy,” Charlotte said.  
“Is there a reason?” Remmy asked.  
“No. We’re just here. No crazy drug, no evil teacher, no weird dreams. Just us.”  
“I know what you mean,” Delilah said with a smile. “Christmas Eve is always peaceful for me. It’s always a day where children get adopted.”  
“You’ve never had someone consider adoption for you?” Taylor asked.  
“...No,” said Delilah with a shrug. “That’s fine with me, though.”  
“So,” Remmy said, standing up. Her sweater was oversized, even for her. “Since we have no research that needs to be done...why don’t we play some games and eat?”  
“Agreed,” Charlotte laughed.  
“We deserve it,” Taylor said. “Come on, let’s get to the Great Hall before someone eats all the food!”  
The girls walked out of the common room to go eat. Just before Charlotte walked out, she saw Salem sitting on top of the fireplace. She turned to face her.  
Salem immediately walked up to Charlotte happily. Christmas!  
“Merry Christmas, Salem,” Charlotte whispered.  
Salem followed Charlotte out of the door.


	14. Bonus Chap2 - Valentine's Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a couple more bonus chapters.. i think there's a couple more after this one

“Happy Valentine’s Day!” Charlotte said, dropping a candybar onto Delilah, who was sleeping on the couch.  
“Ack!” Delilah said as it fell onto her face. “I appreciate it, but I don’t do Valentine’s day.”  
“What? Really?” Charlotte asked. “You seem like the person who would love it!”  
“I used to,” Delilah said. “But...it’s just not for me.”  
“Oh well,” Charlotte shrugged. “Don’t get rid of your candy, though, you can eat it.”  
“Happy Valentine’s day, everyone!” Taylor slid into the common room, nearly tripping. “I forgot to get candy. But it’s the thought that counts, so I thought about it.”  
“Well, I got you this,” Charlotte said, handing Taylor another chocolate bar.  
“Hell yeah!” Taylor immediately opened it and started eating.  
Remmy came downstairs, a box of chocolates in her hands. “My brother sent me this. Well, I think it was actually my grandparents, but he signed it. We can all share.”  
“Ooh, I call dibs on the caramels!” Delilah said, immediately grabbing some.  
“Hey, Dee,” Taylor said, “Katie’s here.”  
“Eugh,” Remmy said. “I’ll leave this here.” Remmy went upstairs.  
Katie walked into the common room, several chocolate bars in hand. “D’you get any yet?”  
“When do I not?” Delilah lifted up a canvas bag filled with chocolate.  
“Merlin, Dee,” Charlotte said. “When did you get that?!”  
“Oh, class, breakfast, lunch, breaks, all day,” Delilah groaned. “So many first and second years. I don’t know if those boys gave them to everyone, or just me…”  
“People actually give you stuff on Valentine’s day?” Taylor asked. “I mean, I see why, you’re pretty. But you’re eleven.”  
“Actually, I’m twelve now,” Delilah said. “My birthday is today.”  
“WHAT?!” Charlotte said. “You don’t like Valentine’s day even though it’s your birthday?! Not to mention, I didn’t get you a present!”  
“Don’t worry about it,” Delilah laughed. “I never get anything on my birthday except chocolate. Katie and I trade.”  
“Speaking of,” Katie said, “I want the ones with almonds.”  
“It still baffles me that you like chocolate with nuts in it,” Delilah said. “I’ll give you all of my nuts if you give me all of your caramels!”  
“Deal,” Katie said.  
“Speaking of Birthdays,” Taylor said, “when’s everyone else’s? Mine was the 20th of September.”  
“Mine’s January 21st,” Charlotte said.  
“Mine’s October 27th,” Remmy said, walking down the stairs. “Oh, you’re still here.”  
“I was just leaving.” Katie got up and left with her new chocolates.  
“So that means I’m the oldest!” Taylor said with a laugh. “And...Dee’s the youngest.”  
“Well,” Charlotte said, “since all of our birthday’s passed, I say we all celebrate tomorrow.”  
“That sounds fun!” Delilah said. “I would do that.”  
“So it’s settled!” Charlotte said. “Tomorrow we have a party.”  
The girls all laughed and talked together for the rest of the day, discussing how they would celebrate their collective birthday.


End file.
